Jungwoo Group

"In the era of infinite competition," growing into the world's first-class global competitive company
"The textile industry is by no means a declining industry"...Let's take another leap with skill and pride."

▲ Chairman Oh Byung-chul of Jungwoo Textile Co., Ltd. and Jungwoo Vina Co., Ltd., who won the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Merit on the 39th Textile Day, are taking a commemorative photo with their executives and employees. © TIN News

"This year has been 55 years since I was involved in the textile industry. Looking back, the past years I have been walking have been with the development of our textile industry. Of course, the road was not easy, and looking back, it was a happy journey. 

When I was in my 20s when I started my day amid the noise of the knitting machine in the early 1970s, I lacked technology and resources, but I stayed under the machine with the determination to make good fabrics. At that time, I was proud of myself as an export-oriented textile man who led the nation's exports. 

However, the oil shock, the foreign exchange crisis, and the fierce global competition also faced numerous challenges and trials. It is all the more impressive that the senior, colleagues, and junior textile workers who have walked the path together are gathered here today. 

And I believe that honest quality, trust, and people-centered management for a long time have been the biggest force that has supported Jungwoo Fiber, and I think today's Jungwoo Fiber was possible because of this belief. 

I strongly believe that the Gold Tower Order of Industrial Merit received today is not an individual award, but rather an innovation from employees and colleagues who have been sweating together, their families who have always supported them, and all textile workers."


▲ Chairman Oh Byung-chul of Jungwoo Textile Co., Ltd. and Jungwoo Vina Co., Ltd., who was awarded the Gold Tower Industrial Medal, are expressing their feelings. ©TIN News

Chairman Oh's recent Gold Tower Order of Merit is his first feat in 13 years since he was awarded the Presidential Medal at the 26th Textile Day ceremony in 2012. He has been in the textile industry for 55 years, established a domestic knit fabric material company, and is a businessman of ▲ trust ▲ quality ▲ respect ▲ public interest ▲ leading, and ▲ overseas investment ▲ R&D ▲ quality technology ▲ new product ▲ customer satisfaction. He is a businessman of the generation that exports textiles and has grown into a global textile company. 

The management principles and management ideology that have been observed for 43 years since its foundation are also the driving force behind the development of excellent items, high-quality production management, and eco-friendly processes, as well as the development of corporate social values. In addition, continuous R&D and facility investment play a role in driving the development of the Korean textile industry and have enhanced the status of the Korean textile industry in the global market by striving to develop export markets.

Chairman Oh's order of the Gold Tower Order is significant in that he was recognized for his contribution to establishing a foundation for direct transactions with overseas buyers and at the same time promoting the quality and excellence of K-fiber to the global market. 

This is evidenced by figures.

After establishing Jungwoo Vina, a fabric export trading company, in 2005, ▲$5 million export tower in 2007 ▲$10 million export tower in 2008 ▲$30 million export tower in 2011 ▲$50 million export tower in 2014 ▲$70 million export tower in 2021. It has continued its growth, with exports of $140 million in ▲ 2024, an increase of about 15% year-on-year. 

In addition, Chairman Oh's major value, which allowed him to grow into Korea's leading knit fabric producer and exporter, deals with all the top 10 sewing companies in Korea, and played a major role in making more than $1 billion in sales for these sewing companies today through reliable product technology and continuous material development. 

Leading R&D and Localization of Textile Machinery

Starting with a deal with Samsung C&T at the time of its establishment in 1982, it developed the world's first double-face and Onami organization, winning the 'High Value-Added Development Award' from Samsung C&T, and was recognized for its knitting technology.

Since 2016, it has started developing the world's first eco-friendly textile material with American Buyer Target and recycling and synthetic yarn company Unifi, and successfully branded the "REPREVE®" recycling fabric, which uses cotton and polyester.

Since then, it has been winning orders with 18 million yards (about $23 million) of single items per year since the high consumer response in the Americas market, and was recognized as an environmentally friendly textile company and won the "Best Company Award" from Target in 2017.

It then jointly developed Tuff Cotton fabric with Target and Huntsman in 2018, and has been winning orders for 6 million yards every year and about $12 million in amount. In particular, Tuff Cotton is one of the major items that are currently exported to Kohl's as the technology has been unveiled since 2024.

Along with developing materials, Chairman Oh also worked hard to localize textile machinery.

By importing the knitting machines of German plane maker Terrot and Mayer & Cie and providing the data analyzed directly to domestic textile machinery manufacturers, it induced localization of the facility through its own development, which led to the revitalization of domestic knitting technology and production. It also developed single/double, jacquard, and single/double stripe machines, contributing to improving the global competitiveness of domestic knit fabrics in the 1990s.

Jungwoo Textile's New Challenge 'Invests in New Plant in Guatemala'

Finally, Chairman Oh decided to invest in building a new factory worth a total of $150 billion in Guatemala, one of Jungubina's three major overseas production bases, in 2022. The investment, which will be carried out in the second phase, will first begin in July 2024, and the vertical plant, which will be built on a site of about 260,000㎡, will begin full-scale production in the fourth quarter of 2025. The production scale is 5.5 million pounds per month for knitting and 2.2 million pounds per month for dyeing.

After that, when the second phase of investment is completed, the total production capa will expand to 7.2 million pounds per month of knitting, 4 million pounds per month of dyeing, and 1.7 million yards per month of printing. In addition, it plans to strengthen its production capacity of high value-added products by introducing special post-processing facilities such as lazing, pitch brush, camppack, and tumble. 

Reporter Kim Sung-joon tinnews@tinnews.co.kr