"Everything is here, but no quarantine mask factory" Factory project underway in Ulsan

Ulsan City Signs MOU with Kolping to Establish Protective Mask Factory

Masks for quarantine certified by the Korea Food and Drug Administration.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Known as the mecca of manufacturing, Ulsan, which has almost every kind of factory but not a single protective mask factory, will soon have a protective mask production plant.

On the 17th at 2 p.m., Ulsan City and sportswear company Kolping will sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for investment to establish a mask production factory at the city hall situation room.

Kolping, a company specializing in hiking apparel, plans to invest 21 billion KRW over two years by 2022 to build a factory producing protective masks such as KF94, KF80, and dental masks in the Gilcheon 2nd Phase (Phase 2) General Industrial Complex in Sangbuk-myeon, Ulju-gun.

Kolping plans to install 40 production lines at the Ulsan factory to produce 1.6 million KF94 and other protective masks daily, totaling 420 million masks annually. This investment is expected to create over 110 new jobs.

Notably, the investment in the protective mask production plant in Ulsan was initially planned by Kolping’s management to be constructed in Yangsan City, Gyeongnam, where the current headquarters is located. However, it is known that Ulsan Mayor Song Cheol-ho personally persuaded Kolping’s management to attract the mask production factory to Ulsan.

Mayor Song Cheol-ho of Ulsan said, “During the COVID-19 pandemic, although Ulsan is the mecca of manufacturing, there was no protective mask production plant. We have made many efforts to attract related manufacturing industries, and fortunately, with Kolping’s investment decision, from next year, masks produced in Ulsan will be stably supplied to citizens.”

Kolping CEO Park Man-young said, “Due to the unprecedented spread of COVID-19, we expect an increase in mask usage and stockpiling domestically and internationally, which led us to decide to establish a mask production factory. We will also cooperate in securing Ulsan City’s own stockpile in addition to public masks.”