Logistics of the Pyeongtaek Route : The Strategic Procurement and Methodical Distribution of Iron Goods, Mid-18<sup>th</sup> to Early 19<sup>th</sup> Century

The study of pre-modern transportation and logistics history aims to reconstruct transportation networks and analyze logistics trends on those networks, thereby elucidating the continuity with modern transportation and logistics. This research inherits the direction of previous studies on the history of transportation and logistics while proposing a new methodology. This methodology consists of two main stages. The first stage involves reconstructing transportation networks and analyzing logistics trends to identify the specific contexts of the movement of goods. The second stage focuses on comprehensively analyzing the characteristics of goods movement based on the transportation network. Using this methodology, the study reconstructed the Pyeongtaek route and examined the logistics activities conducted along this route. Furthermore, it traced the procurement of iron goods by the government and their distribution in the private sector, based on the logistics foundation of the Pyeongtaek route. The results revealed that while the government’s procurement and the private sector’s distribution shared the common phenomenon of iron goods movement, their contexts and characteristics differed. These differences can be summarized as follows:<br/> First, the government’s procurement of iron goods was characterized by the specification of regions for iron allocation and the use of private merchant vessels to transport the goods to their destinations. In contrast, the private sector’s distribution of iron goods was divided into a multi-stage process, including the distribution from the raw material production sites to processing sites, from processing sites to intermediate hubs, and from intermediate hubs to areas of demand. Thus, the government’s procurement of iron goods was centered around clear points of supply and use, whereas the private sector’s distribution established a multi-layered network connecting production sites with areas of demand.