Dongil Glass is a local company representing Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do. It is also a long-lived company that has been passed down for three generations. It is a company that faithfully fulfills its social role by donating a considerable amount of donations to help neighbors and talent nurturing every year.

This is the widely known image of Dongil Glass. However, Dongil Yuri, who visited Dongil Glass, was different from the image of a long-lived company that faithfully continued the past. Even though it is a family business, there is a heated discussion that takes place inside, and decisions are made based on that discussion. Although Yuri is digging only one well, it is transcending the wave of market change by persevering in change in one field.

We heard about Dongil Glass’s history, future vision, and resolve from CEO Kim Young-jin (76) and his eldest son Jeong-hwan Kim (43), planning director, along with the 77-year trajectory of Dongil Glass, starting with Dongilchoja, Nammun-ro, Cheongju-si in 1940. /editor

▲ CEO Kim Young-jin is looking around the site.

▨ Dongil Glass History and Present

Dongil Glass started in 1940 when the late founder Kim Seong-tae opened the Dongil Glass Choja store in Nammun-ro, Cheongju-si. Dongil Glass Choja Store was a glass wholesaler along with a hardware store. After the Korean War, the construction boom boomed, and construction materials such as construction materials and cement were also handled, but glass and cement were still the main businesses.

As the founder Kim passed away in 1978, Kim Young-jin, the current CEO, inherited the family business and became the second-generation company. CEO Kim, who inherited the family business, put aside his business such as building materials and began to focus on glass. Dongil Glass, which was mainly engaged in the wholesale business of receiving products from Korea Glass Industry and connecting with retail stores, started to gain full-scale competitiveness when it introduced a double-layer glass manufacturing facility in 1990.

In 1992, it acquired the window construction license, and in 1994, it expanded and moved, and introduced the automatic production line of Castelmax, Italy. R&D and facility investment continued. In 2007, by expanding the factory in the Cheongju Industrial Complex, a high-functionality low-E double-layer glass mass production system was established and an automatic glass cutting machine was installed. In 2011, an argon gas injection double-layer glass facility was introduced, and in 2014, an automatic injection facility was introduced. The result of digging only one well of glass returned to various awards. In 2006 and 2013, it was selected as a promising small and medium-sized enterprise in Cheongju. In the same year, it was selected as a prestigious longevity company by the Small and Medium Business Corporation and was awarded the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy's Award for ceramic merit last year.

Dongil Glass started to strengthen competitiveness and increase productivity by building a second factory of 10,000 square meters in Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gu, Cheongju-si last year. Aegis' latest automatic production line for double-layer glass and an automatic CNC plate glass cutting machine were installed here. After the construction of the Ochang Factory, Dongil Glass was able to expand its business field by mass-producing a small amount of multi-variety double-glazed glass at the first factory in the Cheongju Industrial Complex and high-functional double-layer glass at the second factory in Ochang.

▲ Panoramic view of the same company.

▨ The same glass decisive moment

After the Korean War, after the Korean War, there was a construction boom. Many construction companies and construction materials companies have grown. There are places like Dongil Glass that started at the level of a hardware store and grew into a large company. On the contrary, there are many companies that have gone down the road after trying to achieve high-speed and compressed growth while expanding their business fields.

CEO Kim Young-jin points to 1978 as a decisive moment for Dongil Yuri. After the death of founder Kim Seong-tae, Dongil Yuri was at a crossroads of choice. The only choice was ‘glass’. Glass entered the field with craftsmanship. CEO Kim recalled, “There were many glass companies that were larger than Dongil Glass in the 1970s, but now there are not many left.” While most companies had difficulties while focusing on increasing their scale, Dongil Glass chose a path of steady growth in one field. CEO Kim said, “Dongil Glass is not a company that has grown significantly at once. Growing slowly like moss on a rock in the water, I have already been positioned at the top of the glass industry.”

▲ Dongil Yuri delivered a donation to help neighbors in Cheongju.

Dongil Yuri's motto is 'Let's go right', 'Let's go together' and 'Let's go forward'. Unlike most companies, there is an anecdote that can prove that Dongil Yuri is continuing its motto as a basic business philosophy. Kim's eldest son, Kim Jung-hwan, a planning director, graduated from Korea University's business department and went to study in the United States. Director Kim, who worked for a large company, joined Dongil Glass in 2003 to continue his family business. About his appearance at the time, Director Kim said, “I got an MBA (Master of Business Administration) in the United States and worked for a large company, so I was confident in management.”

Director Kim's confidence will soon be tested. Dongil Glass also participated in the construction of a factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi-do in 2005. About 4 billion won of glass was delivered. However, rumors circulated that Woncheong Construction Company was in financial trouble due to excessive overseas investment. Other suppliers said the situation was not good and advised them to stop delivery.

However, Director Kim decided that the original government building did not violate the contract and that he should not stop the delivery. The results were disastrous. I didn't get 2 billion won. However, trust with business partners did not betray Dongil Yuri. It took some time, but Dongil Yuri finally received the delivery fee. The employees of Woncheongsa were scattered to companies all over the country, but they claimed to be the publicist of Dongil Yuri, who kept the trust.

Director Kim said, “I was full of confidence after joining the company, but I learned society through that process. I think he meant to go through trials and be strong. He must also have taken into account that he did not deviate from the company's management policy. He learned at the time that ambition is not everything in management.”

Reporter Shim Hyung-sik letsgohs@cctoday.co.kr

https://www.cctoday.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=994023