Samsung

> "We are opposed to the line of compromise with imperialism. At the same time, we cannot tolerate the practice of only shouting against imperialism, but, in actual fact, being afraid to fight it."
>
> Korean Revolutionary and Independence Fighter, **Kim Il-sung**

## Samsung

The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.

### Native Name

삼성 (三星) [Korean]
三星 [Japanese]

### Romanized Name

Samseong [Korean]
Mitsuboshi [Japanese]

## Company Information

### Headquarters

 Zuisō-ku, Keijo, Chōsen, Empire of Japan

### Area Served

Korea, Japan, China, Manchuria, Philippines, Indonesia

### Products

Textiles, foods, sugar, automotives, chemicals, electronics and components, medical equipment, ship parts

### Services

Textile production, food processing, retail, insurance, construction work, shipbuilding, electronical engineering

### Subsidiaries

Samsung Foods and Textiles, Samsung Engineering, Samsung Life Insurance, Samsung Shipbuilding Company, Samsung Electronics

### Allegiance

 **Chōsen**
  **Empire of Japan**

The **Samsung Group**, or simply **Samsung** (Korean: 삼성), also known as **Mitsuboshi** (Japanese: 三星) in Japan, is a Japanese-Korean national manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Zuisō-ku, Keijo, Chōsen. Samsung is one of the many "rising star" companies across East Asia. There is debate whether Samsung could be considered a "Zaibatsu", powerful financial business conglomerates in the Empire of Japan due to its Korean origins. Most however accept that the newly-invented Korean term "Chaebol" applies to the Samsung Group. As of 1970, Samsung is considered to be on the level of a "Second-tier Zaibatsu", next only to the the "Big Five Zaibatsu", namely being Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo, Yasuda, and the newcomer Asano.

In 1938, Lee Byung-chul founded Samsung in Taikyu, Chōsen, as a minor trading company. Starting from the 1950s, the traditional Zaibatsus faced an era of economic decline due to increasing debts, and the failing political and wartime efforts of Japan on several fronts. Following this event, several Korean-owned businesses including Samsung were finally given the opportunity to truly compete with Japanese-owned businesses in Korea. Samsung diversified into several different areas including food processing, textiles, insurance, and even retail. Eventually, Samsung entered the electronics industry in the late 1960s. Samsung was also given an economic charter by the Government of Japan to begin work on shipbuilding. The Samsung Group is by far, the most powerful Korean-owned business in all of Korea. However, Samsung still cannot compete with its Japanese counterparts in total economic influence even in its own country.

Samsung has several subsidiaries such as Samsung Foods and Textiles (Korea's largest food and textiles company), Samsung Engineering (Korea's largest engineering company, next only to Japanese companies), Samsung Life Insurance (Korea's largest insurance company, next only to Japanese companies), Samsung Shipbuilding Company (its current largest division), and Samsung Electronics (its newest division).

Due to the prevalence of anti-Korean sentiment across the Empire of Japan, the Samsung Group is forced to rebrand itself, its subsidiaries, and its products under the name "Mitsuboshi". Although Samsung is immensely powerful in Korea and Manchuria, its economic influence is not as profound in the Home Islands of Japan itself.

## Etymology

The Korean hanja word Samsung (三星) means "three stars". The word "three" represents something large and powerful, whilst "stars" represents something everlasting or eternal. The adopted Japanese word Mitsuboshi (どこも) means the same thing.

## History

### **1938–1950**

In 1938, Lee Byung-chul, from a large landowning family moved to Taikyu (known as Daegu in Korean) and founded the Mitsuboshi Trading Company (株式会社三星商会 (Kabushiki gaisha Mitsuboshi Shōkai)), or Samsung Sanghoe (주식회사 삼성상회). Samsung started out as a small-time company with only forty employees located in Su-dong. It dealt in simple products such as groceries and foods. Following the food shortages across the Empire of Japan especially in Korea, the company prospered, and Byung-chul moved Samsung's headquarters to Keijo. With the outbreak of the Second Pacific War, the Korean economy suffered, and Samsung neared bankruptcy. In 1947, Lee Byung-chul and Cho Hong-jai formed a new company called Samsung Trading Corporation.

### **1950-1970**

In 1954, Lee founded several woolen mill plants in Taikyu to save the company. After several of the major Zaibatsus declared a financial crisis, the Japanese domestic economy began to shrink, greatly affecting Japan's client states including Korea as well. However, the crisis turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Korean companies, as they soon filled the role of Japan's temporary waning economic influence in the country. In 1962, the company received a charter from the Government of Japan to begin work on shipbuilding construction, some of which would be dedicated to the Imperial Japanese Navy. In 1968, Samsung founded Samsung Electronics as part of the Japanese Government's plan to invest in the emerging electronics industry.