To Youn Kim(Toy?n Kim) was a nationalist who had been imprisoned for Feburary 8th Independence Declaration in 1919 and the Korean Language Society Affair in 1942. He was also a professional who earned a doctorate in economy in the USA and Japan, and a businessman managed a company and participated in socio-economic activities.
To Youn Kim, who believed that development of economic capacity is necessary to resrore the national rights for the Japanese colonialized Korea. This belief was his motive for studying major in economy in Japan and the USA. He earned his master’s degree with a thesis about neoclassical economics in Columbia University, and doctor’s degree presenting a thesis about social problems in the colonized Joseon’s rural areas in American University.
He adopted the theory that under market economy, a fair distribution would be possible and labor and capital, could coexist through mutual cooperation. Based on this class collaboration and harmony theory, To Youn Kim sought for the development of agriculture through cooperation between classes such as cooperative associations, not production relationship like a relation of a landowner and tenant. He considered high rate of land tax and high interest loan as the biggest problem in the rural society. He then insisted that the solution to this problem was turning tenants to farm owners by loans from financial institutions. In his perspective, the current capitalist system did not have a flaw, but the absence of independent nation state, which should be the principle agent in the picture was the problem. Thus, the class conflict in his theory changed into racial conflict between the Koreans and Japanese. Naturally, he viewed the problem could be resolved by the restoration of the national rights.
After his return to homeland, his social activities progressed in two directions. First, he tried to share his economic knowledge with others in Korea by eagerly participating in Joseon Local Product Promotion Society(朝鮮物産奬勵會), which collaborate with intellects and businessmen and develop the industry. The other one is the management of company like Joseon Development Corporation with his colleagues during his stay in the USA as a student, and carried forward businesses such as land reclamation, lumbering and mining. Yet his company management career ended when he was imprisoned for the Korean Language Society Affair in 1942.