Gwangju’s Textile Industry

Narrative

Ilshin Spinning Inc., located in the Balsan Village neighborhood near Bbongbbongdari Bridge on Gwangjucheon Stream, was originally founded in 1935 during the Japanese colonial period (1910-1945) as the Gwangju Branch of Jongyeon Spinning Mill, becoming the largest in Korea. After the Korea’s liberation in 1945, Kim Hyeong-nam (1905-1978), a former U.S. military interpreter, was appointed by the U.S. military government as chief director of the spinning mill, which was part of the National Jeonnam Spinning Corporation (formerly Jeonnam Spinning Inc.), which was founded by Kim Yong-ju (1905-1985). Ilshin Spinning was spun off from this corporation in 1961. In the 1960s and 1970s, many young women worked at the factories during Korea’s industrialization.