Min Dae-sik

Min Dae-sik (閔大植, 1882 – ?) was a Japanese colonial-era banker.

Life

He was the eldest son of Min Yong-hwi, a well-known wealthy man and Joseon nobleman, and was a native of Hanseong. He is said to have originally been a soldier of the Korean Empire, and after being discharged as a first lieutenant of the Korean Imperial Army in 1903, he entered the banking business in 1920 following Min Yong-hwi and became a major figure in Joseon's business world. In 1931, Min Dae-sik merged the Hoseo Bank and founded Dongil Bank, becoming its chairman (du-chi), a position equivalent to bank president.

He is listed as one of 353 Korean meritorious persons in the Joseon Gongnoja Myeonggam compiled by the Government-General in 1935.¹² According to this publication, "controlling practical affairs by watching the trends of the business world was his exclusive domain," and "whenever problems arose in the business world, he stepped forward to serve as mediator and never failed to exert himself," which shows his influence.

He served as a director of Joseon Land Improvement Co., Joseon Trust Co., and Joseon Beer Co., as an audit officer of the Gyeongseong Electric Company, and also worked as a commissioned member of the Joseon Financial System Research Committee. In 1930, he entered the Gyeonggi Province Provincial Council as a government-appointed councillor, and he was later elected deputy representative of the Gyeongseong Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

From the 1920s, he was active in various social organizations, including the Dongminhoe and the Joseon Buddhist Association.³ According to the character sketch in the Joseon Gongnoja Myeonggam, he is portrayed not as a passive banker but as a man of courage, a vigorous and energetic figure, which suggests that he was an active and enterprising person. However, there is also an anecdote that despite inheriting much of his father's wealth, he held a shabby funeral for him and was criticized for it.