• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.179-188
• /
• 2019

Domestic apparel products labeled as 'Made in Korea' in the Chinese market are recognized as a high quality products due to the influence of the Korean Wave (Intergen Consulting Group, 2007). This study analyzes the patterns and order arrangement types of a fashion brand company commissioned to produce apparel in Seoul, Korea in order to rebuild a network of small sewing factories scattered in Korea, reorganize operations, and to find the possibility of regenerating the Korean sewing industry by establishing contact points with domestic sewing factories. We surveyed 100 apparel brand companies in Seoul listed in the 2014/2015 Korea Fashion Brand Annual (Apparel News, 2014) and conducted a questionnaire survey on the company's general management status, type of fabric materials dealt with, and major contact points and methods of production handling. The frequency analysis indicated that the main production material with cloth type was woven fabric with ladies' clothes. The Planning MD team has the highest rate of ordering production with delivery method to the production factory after purchasing fabric and trims. Most respondents answered that they would select a production factory based on recommendations from acquaintances. This was due to a lack of no objective indicator provided by the sewing factory at present and the absence of objectively proceeded communication with brand companies. In this study, we analyze various conditions and measurements for production arrangements from a fashion brand company to revitalize sewing factories in Korea.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.167-178
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this study is to analyze the direct investment decision factors in the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Vietnam, and to contribute to the creation of domestic jobs and the revitalization of the inter-Korean economy. According to the analysis, most of the Kaesong Industrial Complex and Vietnamese investment companies are entering the complex for the purpose of utilizing cheap labor, cheap factory locations, sales/development of local markets, and bypass export production bases in third countries. This can be divided into production-efficient investors using differences in production price such as labor costs and market-oriented investors to sell and expand the local market, which seems to be consistent with global direct investment patterns such as Nike, Apple, and Amazon. However, even if the North Korea-U.S. denuclearization talks ease or lift sanctions, Vietnamese investors' willingness to invest in the North Korea has been most burdened by the possibility of closing special economic zones due to political risks. Last but not least, it is important to note that those willing to invest in North Korea are mostly smaller enterprises in textiles, sewing, footwear and leather industries-those that benefit from low-cost labor. Since their size is small, they need policy support in financing, especially in the early stages of their business. Even after they grow past the early stages, those without collateral would still need state guarantee letters to get financing. Thus, it is worth considering to use the Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund to compensate commercial banks for bad loan loss or for low-interest loans for smaller SMEs. The interviews with SMEs found that red-tape is one of the biggest difficulties they face. Thus, it is recommended that a one-stop service agency should be established to cover all processes and issues related to inter-Korean economic cooperation to eliminate redundancy and expediate government support for SMEs.