[Planning] The History of Korea's Cement Industry

①The Emergence of the Cement Industry and Postwar National Reconstruction

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] South Korea is the 12th largest cement-producing country in the world, with an annual production scale of about 60 million tons. In terms of cement technology, it has been recognized as an advanced cement country, exporting production technology overseas since the 1980s. However, the public does not fully recognize the status of South Korea's cement industry. Although it played a key role as a national infrastructure industry during the economic development period of the 1960s and 1970s, it became stigmatized as a polluting industry damaging the environment in the 2000s, causing it to fall out of public interest. Recently, the cement industry is undergoing a transition to an eco-friendly industry. This publication will reexamine the history of South Korea's cement industry, which is transforming from an ugly duckling into a swan, over 10 installments.[Editor's Note]

The cement we commonly see today began in 1824 when Joseph Aspdin of the United Kingdom invented and patented "Portland cement." After the first cement factory was established in the UK in 1825, the technology spread to France, Germany, Japan, and the United States, ushering in a new era in architectural culture.

South Korea's cement industry can be said to have accumulated over 100 years of history since the first cement factory was established in Seungho-ri, Pyongannam-do by the Japanese in 1919. However, considering the social turmoil after liberation on August 15, 1945, and the national crises such as the Korean War in 1950, which caused all aspects of society including politics and economy to regress to square one, the actual history of South Korea's cement industry spans only about 60 years.

It is no exaggeration to say that the domestic cement industry has accompanied South Korea's history through periods of upheaval and miraculous economic development. Today, with an annual production scale of about 60 million tons, it has risen to become the 12th largest cement-producing country in the world, and in terms of cement technology, it has advanced to the level of Europe and Japan, exporting production technology overseas since the 1980s.

The development of the cement industry has different characteristics depending on the country's conditions and the peculiarities of economic growth. Japan, which industrialized ahead of others in the late 19th century, extended its full-scale invasion to Korea after victories in the First Sino-Japanese War and Russo-Japanese War, making Korea a colony through the Eulsa Treaty in 1910. For 36 years thereafter, all aspects of Korea's politics, diplomacy, economy, culture, and industry were controlled by Japan, a dark period during which Korea's cement industry was started by the Japanese.

Onoda Cement Samcheok Plant, Japan.
Photo by Korea Cement Association

In December 1919, the year of the March 1st Independence Movement under Japanese rule, and following the outbreak of World War I, Japan's largest cement company, Onoda Cement, built Korea's first cement factory near the Gyeongui Line railway in Seungho-ri, on the outskirts of Pyongyang, Pyongannam-do, to expand into the Manchurian and Chinese markets.

At that time, the northern region (now North Korea) had five factories with a production capacity of 1.31 million tons, while in the southern region (now South Korea), Chosun Onoda Cement Co., Ltd. pushed for the construction of a factory in Samcheok, completing the Samcheok Cement Factory in July 1942, but it was not properly operated.

In the first year of completion, 1942, production was 85,850 tons; in 1944, 16,845 tons; and in 1945, the year of liberation, it decreased to 9,063 tons, with cement from the northern region meeting the demand in the southern region. Domestic cement consumption exceeded 760,000 tons in 1944, the year before the end of World War II, and per capita consumption increased to 31 kg.

The joy and hope of liberation in 1945 were short-lived, as political and ideological conflicts and chaos soon followed, leading to the tragic division of the nation and the Korean War. Although the war ended with an armistice after about three years, the damage was immense. The loss and destruction of housing reached 595,260 units, and the industrial facilities left by the Japanese were reduced to ashes, leaving South Korea devastated.

The ruins of Seoul after the Korean War.
[Photo by Korea Cement Association]

Most of South Korea's important industrial facilities were concentrated in the North, and among the six cement factories in both North and South Korea (with a total production capacity of 1.7 million tons), only the Samcheok factory (84,000 tons), which was repaired and reopened with $631,500 in funding from the United Nations Korean Reconstruction Agency (UNKRA), remained in the South. At that time, the total available electricity was only 3%.

The Samcheok factory began to play a significant role in domestic cement supply after its full-scale facility expansion following its transition to Dongyang Cement Co., Ltd. in 1956. Subsequently, to prepare for the surge in cement demand necessary for reconstruction, the government built a new cement factory in Mungyeong, Gyeongbuk, in 1954, the Daehan Cement Industrial Corporation, with an annual capacity of 240,000 tons.

An official from the Korea Cement Association said, "It is accurate to say that our cement industry essentially began after the Korean War (6.25 War). It was truly a miraculous history of rising from the ashes."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.