CEO Message
A history of challenge built on honesty and sincerity, and a promise to become a world-class company
In 1974, when I set up a small crucible furnace and a single compact extruder in a modest factory in Yeongdeungpo and entered the non-ferrous metals business, I could hardly have foreseen what one or two years ahead would bring — let alone fifty.
Going further back, in 1964, when I arrived in Seoul as a young man of twenty without a single coin in my pocket and tended a makeshift furnace fashioned from a cast-iron pot at a small-town ironworks, even tomorrow — let alone the month ahead — was beyond my imagining.
The 50-year history of DAECHANG is a history of challenge grounded in honesty and diligence. From its earliest years, DAECHANG led the localization and technological advancement of Korea’s brass industry, achieving the first domestic development and mass production of copper anodes for PCB plating and generating significant import-substitution benefits.
By integrating advanced technologies and investing in collaborative R&D with industry, academia, and research institutions, DAECHANG further strengthened the competitiveness of Korea’s brass industry. The introduction of state-of-the-art automated equipment expanded our brass-manufacturing base, and the company secured an annual brass-rod production capacity of 144,000 tons — equivalent to 52% of Korea’s total capacity. This established DAECHANG as the world’s fifth-largest brass-rod producer with a 3% global market share, elevating the standing of Korea’s brass industry.
Other significant milestones in our 50-year history include securing a major investment from the International Finance Corporation, establishing our Chinese subsidiary, and expanding sales of eco-friendly lead-free brass to global enterprises.
What I did possess, however, was my entire fortune — an honest heart and a diligent attitude. After founding DAECHANG, this spirit became the corporate philosophy embraced by every member of our company. Whenever hardship came, we overcame it together with sincerity; we moved forward one honest step at a time and pursued our challenges as one. That is how DAECHANG came to envision the decade and the two decades ahead, and how we have now arrived at the precious milestone of our 50th anniversary.
Looking back on our journey, DAECHANG aspires not merely to ten or twenty years ahead, but to a vision spanning a century. That vision must be tied to the path of building a better future and a world in which the next generation thrives. Accordingly, DAECHANG has contributed to the enactment of the Special Act on Mid-sized Enterprises and the refinement of related systems, while pursuing the construction of a smart eco-friendly factory under ESG principles, minimizing manufacturing pollutants, extending the retirement age to ensure employment stability, and dedicating resources to community development and talent cultivation. Since its founding in 1974, DAECHANG has recorded annual growth of more than 30%, and within five decades has grown into a global mid-sized enterprise. As of 2024, the year of our 50th anniversary, DAECHANG exports brass rods to more than 20 countries and operates 11 affiliated companies, advancing as one of Korea’s leading copper-alloy extrusion enterprises.
I know well that the true protagonists of this precious history are our customers at home and abroad who have cherished and supported DAECHANG, together with every past and present member of the DAECHANG family. It is to all of them that we dedicate this 50-year history, which records the meaning of each step we have taken. Guided by this history, we pledge to advance vigorously toward our long-term goal of becoming a “100-year company,” taking full shape as a world-class enterprise — in both name and substance — through advanced, high-value-added businesses such as environmentally driven materials industries.
Thank you.
Cho Si-young