Korea Glass Busan plant shuts down after 40 years

(Busan = Yonhap News) Reporter Sang-hyun Kim = Korea Glass Industry's Busan factory in Ilgwang-myeon, Gijang-gun, Busan will be shut down after 40 years of operation.

Hankook Glass announced on the 23rd that it had decided to shut down its Busan plant, which started operation in 1971, from the 10th to the 14th of the following month, and recently notified the union of this.

Korea Glass has been experiencing difficulties as the demand for flat glass for construction, which accounts for 90% of total production, has plummeted due to the recent slowdown in the construction industry, and low-priced imported products from Southeast Asia and the Middle East have flowed in.

A final decision will be made at the board meeting on the 7th of next month.

Korea Glass, the largest flat glass manufacturer in Korea, operates three glass furnaces and one in its Gunsan and Busan plants, respectively, and has produced an average of 1,500 tons of glass per day.

In particular, the blast furnace of the Busan plant was lit at Mt. Geumgang and was the site of the combination of the torch for the 2000 National Sports Festival, known as the 'fire of unification'. At that time, hoping that the people's aspirations for unification would not be extinguished, the fire was put into a furnace, but the fire was extinguished after 10 years due to worsening economy.

joseph@yna.co.kr