One would think that the company Woongjin Chemical would be almost entirely unrelated to the IT industry, but that would be a mistaken assumption. Woongjin Chemical has several direct business connections with the IT industry and provides essential parts and materials to the areas of semiconductor manufacturing and flat panel displays.

The company gave a very good impression with a front-row, large-scale booth at the International Materials and Components Industry Show 2009, showing off the products of its four divisions - the fiber division, textiles division, materials division, and filter division. It's the last two which are the surprising ones.

LCD Filters, Plates

First of all, the material division is hard at work making diffuser plates for LCD lighting. Their Lumicel brand product uses eco-friendly materials, and is impactresistant and stable. In describing it, Martin You, marketing coordinator for Woongjin, said: “It's a new concept that can respond to the always-changing needs of the display business.” He pointed out that the company also creates prism sheets for LCD monitors, which are the bright white sheets that filter the light before it's sent to the screen. Their thickness is unique with measurements of at the smallest, 120 micrometers.

If one thinks that this is the only connection that Woongjin Chemical has with the IT industry, that would still be incorrect. The company creates filters that are used in many factories to create clean water. This clean water is especially important in semiconductor creating facilities, as the components must be washed several times during the manufacturing process. The membrane and cartridge filters are essential to creating clean, spotless, workable semiconductor chips, at which Korea excels. And Woongjin Chemical is right there making sure that it happens. Mr. Byeongho, team leader of the Filter Marketing Team, was on hand at the exhibition to point out the strengths of Woongjin's filters. “We were the first Korean company to develop the micro filters needed for semiconductor processing, and also the pharmaceutical industry. Our history of fiber manufacture helped us out a lot there.”

Polyester Has to Come from Somewhere

Woongjin Chemcial's oldest product and the history of its strength is its fiber manufacturing business. It has been producing high quality fibers for over 35 years. It chose to spotlight its Esfron product, a flame-retardant material made with phosphorus products which are not harmful, like asbestos is. Another product showcased at this exhibition was the Ezbon binder fiber, which binds together with all other fibers when heat is applied. That means nobody has to use glue to hold their couches together any longer.