How the 1980s 'Gukmin Undonghwa' Brand Was Born... 40 Years of History Published

The 1984 professional baseball Korean Series is remembered as an unforgettable classic match. Choi Dong-won, the ace of the Lotte Giants, became a legend by leading his team to victory with an unprecedented four wins in the Korean Series.

The baseball shoes worn by that legend at the time were from the domestic brand Prospex. Prospex's status back then was on par with major international brands like Nike and Adidas. Design columnist Kim Shin wrote in an essay included in the book Our Race Has Not Ended, "In the early 1980s, incidents of Nike and Prospex sneakers being stolen at schools were not uncommon."

Our Race Has Not Ended is a book published by Prospex last month. It contains the 40-year brand story of Prospex. It was planned to reexamine the value of the Prospex brand over the past 40 years and to explore ways to preserve the brand’s value as a legacy going forward.

The 1980s and 1990s were the heyday of Prospex. Prospex officially launched as a brand in 1981, the year of the so-called "Baden-Baden Miracle." In September of that year, Seoul was selected as the host city for the 1988 Olympics at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) General Assembly held in Baden-Baden, Germany. The year after the Baden-Baden Miracle, professional baseball was launched, and the following year, professional soccer began. The 1980s were the era of professional sports and the Olympics, and Prospex led the Korean sneaker craze. It was selected as the official sponsor of the 1986 Seoul Asian Games and the 1988 Seoul Olympics, gaining fame as the nation's sneaker. It also exported products to countries such as France and Malaysia under royalty agreements.

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Right after its launch, Prospex sponsored national team players and games in basketball, volleyball, and other sports, and actively raised brand awareness through marketing events such as inviting NBA star Wilt Chamberlain. Within just three years of its release, in 1984, it became the highest-selling brand domestically. The number of Prospex stores increased from the first store opened in 1981 at Lotte Shopping Center in Euljiro, Seoul, to 260 stores by 1986.

The decisive crisis for Prospex came in 1998 during the foreign exchange crisis. At that time, its parent company, Kukje Group, went bankrupt and entered court receivership. Kukje Sangsa endured about a decade of darkness before being acquired by LS Group in 2007. Although its current status does not match its past glory, Prospex is still seeking change and exploring sustainability. It is striving to establish itself as a brand for everyday life, moving away from being specialized solely in professional sports. It has already been over ten years since it launched the walking-specialized brand W in 2009, focusing on walking exercise in daily life.

Our Race Has Not Ended consists of two volumes: a textbook and an image book. The textbook, composed of text, includes essays, interviews with the key figures who led Prospex’s heyday, and roundtable discussions with experts from various fields such as sports, fashion, design, and marketing. The image book contains Prospex’s image archive materials. Through various sports scene photos where Prospex participated, such as the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 1986 Asian Games, it shows the values pursued by Prospex.

Our Race Has Not Ended is available for purchase at the official Prospex online store.

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