The Chosŏn Sangsa Chusik Hoesa spans the years from 1947 to 1950. It was the first international trading company established by the North Korean government and was based in Pyongyang from 1947 to 1950 with branches in Dalian, Dandong, Qingdao, Sinŭiju, Namp'o, Wŏnsan, Hamhŭng, Ch'ŏngjin, Sŏngjin, and Namyang. The collection consists of correspondence, business reports, trade invoices, statistics, personnel records, meeting and planning notes, memoranda, and other miscellaneous records pertaining to export and import activities of Chosŏn Sangsa Chusik Hoesa. Also featured are papers documenting the experiences of overseas Chinese in North Korea. These records are in Korean and include some Chinese, Japanese, and English. This collection is one of the most significant and rare collections of the Korean collection in the Asian Division.

The collection contains 21 boxes and is generally arranged alphabetically by topic. The material housed inside each box was initially bound together and pertained to a general topic. After being treated by the Conservation Division, each previously bound item is now placed in folders and housed in a box. The original order of the documents has been retained to provide researchers with context. The exception is that boxes one and two contain topical material relating solely to the Pukchosŏn HwagyoYonhaphoe, the North Korea Overseas Chinese Federation. This material was originally dispersed throughout the collection and has been organized into boxes one and two.

After the Korean Peninsula was liberated from Japan in 1945, the number of Chinese who lived in North Korea was estimated to be around 60,000. The Pukchosŏn Hwagyo Yonhaphoe was established in December 1946 in Pyongyang, North Korea. The goals of Pukchosŏn Hwagyo Yonhaphoe were to promote friendly relations between Chinese and North Koreans; to protect the interests of Chinese residents; and to voice the concerns of the Chinese government to the North Korean government. Chinese residents were able to engage in social, economic, and simple political activities due in large part to the efforts of the Pukchosŏn Hwagyo Yonhaphoe and its relationship to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. To date, documentation of the lives of overseas Chinese in North Korea are rare to find. The material in boxes one and two shed light into how the Pukchosŏn Hwagyo Yonhaphoe advocated for the rights of overseas Chinese in North Korea.

Material from box one primarily relates to activities from 1947 and include records from the trading company’s branches in Pyongyang and Sinuiju. Included in this box is a copy of a letter sent by the Pukchosŏn Hwagyo Yonhaphoe, on behalf of all North Korean Chinese, to Kim Il-sŏng, chairman of the North Korean People's Committee, and the Commander of the Soviet Army. The letter was written in commemoration of the second anniversary of the National Liberation Day of Korea on August 15, 1947 and expressed that overseas Chinese residents appreciated how their lives improved in many ways.

Previously, only Korean citizens could own land, but land was distributed to Chinese residents living in North Korea. Records in box one reveal how overseas Chinese were able to own land because of land reforms. In addition, education had been under the control of the North Korean government since 1949. Yet, overseas Chinese students were treated the same as North Korean students. Documents from the box show that the North Korean government provided educational facilities and materials needed to repair old classrooms to some Chinese schools in North Korea. Material from this box also disclose that overseas Chinese purchased necessary goods from Dalian, China and other countries and claimed tax exemptions.

Box two primarily pertains to activities in 1948 and contains official documents relating to diseases, publicity of Pukchosŏn HwagyoYonhaphoe, dealings with foreign countries, and the general affairs of the Pukchosŏn Hwagyo Yonhaphoe. There is also a 1949 book list of publications by Pukchosŏn Hwagyo Yonhaphoe. On August 9, 1946, the North Korean Provisional People's Committee published the “Decision on Public Citizenship.” As a result of this decree, citizenship would be issued regardless of the social composition, economic stature, and if you are 18 years of age or older. Included in box two are applications by overseas Chinese for identification.

After liberation in 1945, the North Korea Overseas Chinese Federation played a crucial role in connecting the North Korean government and Chinese government. The inclusion of these documents in the collection perhaps point to how the trading company used the connections already established between Pukchosŏn Hwagyo Yonhaphoe and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to open trade routes into northern China.

The rest of the collection, boxes three through twenty-one, provide insight into the inner workings, organizational history, and administration of a semi-state run, private company during a turbulent time in Korean history. The collection contains a lot of documents that show communication between Chosŏn Sangsa Chusik Hoesa and the North Korean government. Correspondence, reports, invoices, meeting and planning notes, personnel records, resumes, invoices, guidelines for trade practices, statistical tables, and other organizational records chronicle the activities of the Chosŏn Sangsa Chusik Hoesa. Topics include commerce, planning, trading relationships, updates from various branches, economic conditions, other trading companies. More importantly though these documents bring to light the economic conditions and policies, history of commerce, foreign economic relationships, and politics of the North Korean government.

Records reveal that in 1948 the company’s main exports were chemicals, seafood, medicine, and soybeans. In 1949, the export rankings changed to seafood, soybeans, grains, and chemicals. In 1948, the main imports were daily necessities and construction materials, while in 1949, the most important import was construction materials followed by daily necessities. Documents identified as “top secret papers” include proposals for importing sulfur, but at the time, there was an economic blockade on this item to communist countries. Also included are import and export transactional documents with other trading companies, specifically the Metropolitan Commercial Company. Ships and railroads were used as methods of transportation, and ship times sheets show that ships belonging to the Cho-Sso Shipping Company were frequently used for transporting goods.

There are many documents in the collection that point to a major economic disruption in the trading company in 1950. According to data from the collection, on June 7, 1950, the new community government in China controlled foreign currency. This impacted the relationship between the Chosŏn Sangsa Chusik Hoesa and Hong Kong, the company’s most important trade destination, and trade fell sharply. This economic disruption impacted various aspects of the Chosŏn Sangsa Chusik Hoesa, and there are no records beyond 1950.