60 Years of Success Together, Opening the Next Chapter with Customers – KORLOY KPF 2026 Shares a Vision for Growth Through Partner Collaboration
To mark its 60th anniversary, KORLOY held KPF 2026 (KORLOY PARTNERS FAIR) in Cheongju on October 8, inviting representatives from domestic distributors and distinguished guests. The event was organized to express gratitude to its long-standing partners and share strategies for growth in response to the evolving manufacturing environment.
Participants toured the site of KORLOY's second Cheongju plant before attending the official ceremony at Cheongju OSCO. The program included commemorative and congratulatory speeches by executives, awards recognizing outstanding distributors and contributions, a 60th-anniversary ceremony, and a celebratory dinner.
Having evolved from pioneering the domestic production of carbide cutting tools into a global company, KORLOY viewed its 60th anniversary as a turning point to prepare for its next leap forward, building on decades of accumulated expertise. On this occasion, KORLOY reaffirmed its commitment to mutual growth with customers and partners through technological development, stable product supply, and enhanced services.
CEO Jung Hyun Yim Outlines Strategies for Future Industries and Enhanced Customer Value
In his commemorative address, CEO Jung Hyun Yim reflected on KORLOY's 60-year journey of growth alongside South Korea's manufacturing industry and outlined the company's direction for responding to changing industrial demands.
He noted that the growth of emerging industries, including robotics, semiconductors, future mobility, and energy, is diversifying machining materials and methods while raising expectations for precision and productivity. CEO Jung Hyun Yim expressed his commitment to proactively providing customers with optimal cutting solutions to meet these evolving needs.
He identified supply chain diversification as a key priority supporting this commitment. KORLOY aims to strengthen its ability to secure raw materials reliably amid rapidly changing market conditions and maintain an uninterrupted supply of products to customers.
He also emphasized strengthening development and production capabilities through digital technologies. By leveraging DX, PLM, and AI, KORLOY plans to integrate research and design data with production and manufacturing data, enhancing its capabilities in new product development, quality assurance, and customized manufacturing.
CEO Jung Hyun Yim concluded by reaffirming KORLOY's commitment to addressing industrial changes through technological innovation and new cutting solutions while creating greater value together with customers.
Customers and Partners Who Have Shaped 60 Years of Growth Together
Chairman Hye Sub Yun expressed his gratitude for the trust and support shown by customers and distributors. He emphasized that KORLOY would not be where it is today without the customers who stood by the company and set rigorous quality standards whenever it faced technological challenges.
He also acknowledged the burden placed on customers by price increases resulting from soaring tungsten prices and rising manufacturing costs, reaffirming KORLOY's commitment to ensuring a stable product supply and improving its services. Amid a period of profound transformation driven by emerging technologies such as AI, robotics, and mobility, he outlined plans to accelerate the development of high-tech products by integrating these technologies and to provide customers with new business opportunities and differentiated value.
He further expressed his sincere appreciation and hope that KORLOY and its partners would continue to trust one another, share a common vision, and reunite as steadfast partners to celebrate the company's 70th anniversary.
Distributors also expressed their appreciation for the partnership and their commitment to mutual growth. In a congratulatory address, a representative of the distributors paid tribute to KORLOY's executives and employees for their dedication to establishing the foundation of South Korea's cutting tool industry and strengthening its global competitiveness. The representative also thanked KORLOY for listening to feedback from the field and serving as a reliable source of support for its distributors.
Welcoming the management's commitments to stabilizing raw material supplies, ensuring the prompt delivery of new products, and maintaining rigorous quality assurance, the distributors reaffirmed their determination to grow alongside KORLOY while placing customer satisfaction above all else.
KORLOY's history reflects not only its journey of technological advancement and market expansion but also its continuous efforts to meet customer expectations. Since its founding in 1966 with the goal of localizing the production of carbide cutting tools, KORLOY has developed its own material, coating, and design technologies, expanding their applications across manufacturing sites in South Korea and abroad. Throughout this journey, customer quality requirements and practical experience from manufacturing sites have served as essential benchmarks for technological progress.
The founding generation's spirit of technological independence and people-centered management philosophy have also been carried forward through these relationships. KORLOY has consistently pursued an environment in which employees who develop and manufacture technologies, distributors who deliver products to manufacturing sites, and customers who use them can all grow together.
12 Outstanding Distributors and 6 Distinguished Contributors Honored for Their Partnership
The event also featured an awards ceremony recognizing outstanding distributors and distinguished contributors. It was an opportunity to acknowledge and express gratitude to the partners who have connected KORLOY's products and technologies with customers at manufacturing sites.
The Outstanding Distributor Awards recognized the vital role of partners who have maintained product supply and sales activities while working closely with customers. Distributors connect customers with tools suited to their machining conditions and requirements while conveying feedback from manufacturing sites to the company. This communication provides an essential foundation for translating KORLOY's technologies into improved customer productivity.
The Distinguished Contribution Awards expressed appreciation to partners who have maintained long-standing relationships with KORLOY. Trust built amid changes in manufacturing environments and market conditions has served as the foundation for mutual growth between the company and its distributors. The ceremony provided an opportunity to reflect on the value of past collaboration and reaffirm a shared commitment to enhancing customer satisfaction through stable product supply and technical support.
Distributors serve as a vital link between customers and the company, communicating customer needs and delivering appropriate products and technical support to manufacturing sites. Experience and feedback gained through the use of cutting tools contribute to product improvements and the development of new solutions. The awards highlighted how this collaboration has supported both KORLOY's growth and the trust of its customers.
Trust Built on the Manufacturing Floor: The Foundation of a Global Brand
In his commemorative address, CEO Jung Hyun Yim announced plans to strengthen KORLOY's supply chain diversification to secure a stable supply of raw materials amid rapidly changing market conditions and ensure uninterrupted product deliveries to customers. He also expressed his commitment to improving customer service by enhancing quality assurance and responsiveness to customized manufacturing requirements.
This message reflects how KORLOY intends to sustain the trust it has built in domestic and international markets. KORLOY has strengthened its competitiveness overseas through technical support tailored to local manufacturing environments and partnerships with regional businesses. Beyond product performance, the ability to understand and resolve customers' machining challenges has been a key factor in establishing trust in the brand.
At SIMTOS 2026, customers had the opportunity to communicate directly with R&D engineers and experience KORLOY's technological and manufacturing capabilities through machining demonstrations, product seminars, and factory tours. At this year's KPF, KORLOY reflected on its partnerships with domestic distributors and shared practical priorities, including stable product supply and enhanced services.
For customers, receiving products when needed and obtaining technical support during machining operations are just as important as selecting the right cutting tools. The supply and service improvements outlined by CEO Jung Hyun Yim represent a commitment to strengthening trust throughout the entire customer experience.
Connecting Decades of Technological Expertise with the Demands of Emerging Industries
CEO Jung Hyun Yim explained that the growth of emerging industries, including robotics, semiconductors, future mobility, and energy, is driving greater diversity in machining materials and methods while increasing demands for precision and productivity. He emphasized the importance of proactively delivering optimal cutting solutions that meet the evolving needs of these industries.
This commitment is supported by KORLOY's extensive expertise in materials, coatings, and tool design. By combining carbide materials, CVD and PVD coatings, chipbreaker technologies, and precision geometry design, KORLOY has enhanced tool performance and reliability while helping customers improve machining quality and productivity.
The aerospace industry provides a clear example of how these technologies are being applied to meet the needs of emerging industrial applications. KORLOY has developed tools for machining difficult-to-cut materials such as carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) and heat-resistant alloys, expanding its support from customers' initial development stages through to stable mass production. Through collaboration with customers, KORLOY has also gained practical experience in applying domestically developed cutting tools to the machining of aerospace structures composed of stacked dissimilar materials.
Responding to changes in materials and manufacturing processes requires both cutting tool development and on-site technical support. The direction outlined by CEO Jung Hyun Yim reflects KORLOY's commitment to leveraging its accumulated technological expertise to solve new machining challenges and translate these achievements into shared growth with customers.
Exploring the Next Phase of Growth at the Cheongju Plant 2 Site
Before the official ceremony, customers and distributors toured the site of KORLOY's planned second plant in Cheongju, which is being developed as a mid- to long-term production hub.
Cheongju Plant 2 will be established on a site of approximately 58,000 m² in Cheongju High-Tech Valley, Gangnae-myeon, Heungdeok-gu, Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do. Under the current development plan, KORLOY will invest a total of KRW 140 billion between 2026 and 2035 to establish an eco-friendly smart factory for carbide cutting tool production in phases. Construction of the first-phase facilities is scheduled to begin in December 2026, with initial completion targeted for 2027. Production, logistics, research, and administrative facilities will subsequently be expanded in line with market demand and business plans.
The new production hub will provide a foundation for KORLOY to respond to future demand and industrial changes by leveraging its accumulated manufacturing expertise. For customers, it represents an important step toward ensuring timely product availability and faster technical support in response to evolving machining requirements.
60 Years Built Together, Preparing for the Future Together
The official event featured a 60th-anniversary ceremony and a celebratory toast, followed by a dinner and performances. Participants concluded the day's program with a commemorative group photo. It was an occasion to celebrate their shared journey and reaffirm their commitment to future collaboration.
As KORLOY evolved from pioneering domestic production to expanding into global markets, its technologies and production systems advanced, while customer needs continued to change. Connecting these developments were the people who created the technologies, the customers who used them, and the partners who delivered them to manufacturing sites. KPF 2026 provided an opportunity to reflect on these relationships and share a common vision for the next phase of growth.
Messages of gratitude to customers, plans for a new production hub, and commitments to stable supply and technological innovation all pointed toward stronger future collaboration. In response, customers attending the event expressed their commitment to mutual growth and pledged to work alongside KORLOY as partners in translating the company's innovations into tangible value on the manufacturing floor.
Building on 60 years of shared achievements, KORLOY and its partners are preparing for the next chapter together.
