Park Young-sun: "‘Good Mask Companies’ Leading the Fight Against COVID-19 Are Patriots"

Minister of SMEs and Startups Park Young-sun (right in the photo) visited Evergreen located in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province on the 18th and presented a plaque of appreciation to Lee Seung-hwan, CEO of Evergreen (left). Photo by Korea Federation of SMEs

(From left) Lee Seung-hwan, CEO of Evergreen / Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups, emphasized on the 18th that “In the inconvenient situation where the public is experiencing a mask shortage due to the aftermath of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), ‘good companies’ that voluntarily strive to stabilize supply and demand are true patriots.”

On the same day, Minister Park visited Evergreen, an SME located in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, to check the mask supply situation and listen to the difficulties faced by the company. Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of SMEs, and Choi Chang-hee, CEO of Gongyoung Shopping, were also present.

Evergreen, established in 1996, is a company that succeeded in domestic production of masks for the first time in Korea based purely on domestic technology and capital. It is an excellent SME that has obtained global certifications from five major countries (the United States, Europe, Australia/New Zealand, Japan, China). Recently, when the ‘mask crisis’ occurred due to COVID-19, Evergreen provided 10,000 masks to Hyundai Motor’s partner parts companies in Shandong Province, China, through the Korea Federation of SMEs. They also produced an additional 100,000 masks and supplied them to Gongyoung Shopping, which sells 1 million masks at 1,000 won with almost no profit margin. Recently, they have been operating their factory 24 hours a day, producing 200,000 masks daily.

Lee Seung-hwan, CEO of Evergreen, said, “Korea is the only country where masks are managed at the national level through KF (Korea Filter) certification by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Even without promotion, only KF masks are sought after in Europe and the United States. Recently, there have been proposals from Japan to purchase masks as well.”

Minister Park met with CEO Lee on the day and expressed gratitude by presenting a plaque, saying, “Thank you for practicing social responsibility management prioritizing the health and safety of the public,” and promised active support from the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.

Minister Park also said, “If there is a mask cooperative, it would help with raw material procurement, product supply, and price stabilization,” adding, “I will separately propose this to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and assist in forming a cooperative jointly with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups.”

Chairman Kim said, “Despite the shortage of mask supply, we appreciate the provision of masks to help our companies operating in China,” and added, “Recently, relief supplies such as masks supplied through public-private cooperation have led to the resumption of operations of our companies in China, showing tangible effects. We will continue to cooperate with the government to overcome the current crisis.”