Interview with Mr Dong Chang Jung
Director -Department of Textile, Apparels & Consumer Goods Industries
Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE), Govt of South Korea
To begin with, we would request you to share an overview of the Korean Textile & the Garment industry with our readers? Can they be supported with statistical figures too?
Korea has a relatively large, vertically integrated from up-stream to down-stream, textile and fashion industries which have played a key role in the process of the nation's modernization, contributing significantly to employment, production and exports for the last several decades. Korean textile and fashion industries represented 14.7% of the total number of manufacturing enterprises in 2005.
Also, Korean textile and fashion industries maintained its prestige as a largest job maintaining industry, recording 9.6% of total manufacturing employment and account for 4.4% of total production in 2005.
As of 2006, Korean textile and fashion industries represent 4.1% of total exports and have played a key role with trade surplus accounting for 32% of the total trade surplus.
Position of Korean Textile Industry
| Category | Companies (Number) | Employment (Number) | Production (Billion Won) | Exports(2006) (Billion USD) | Trade Balance(2006) (Billion USD) |
| Manufacturing | 117,205 | 2,866 | 851,789 | 325.5 | 16.1 |
| Textile & Fashion (Share: %) | 17252 (14.7) | 274 (9.6) | 37897 (4.4) | 13.2 (4.1) | 5.2 (32) |
What is the role of your department in the development of the Textile & Apparel industry in Korea?
The role of our division is to accelerate the modernization of the textile industry and to reinforce the international competitiveness of textile products in order to contribute to the growth of the national economy.
On a global platform, how competitive is the Korean textile industry in terms of quality and cost etc..?
The Korean textiles and apparel industry has played a major role in the development, but the competitiveness is decreasing mainly due to labor costs.
DISCLAIMER: All views and opinions expressed in this column are solely of the interviewee, and they do not reflect in any way the opinion of Fibre2Fashion.com.
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