Sales of Taekwondo supplies soars

"Unlimited market potential, that`s it."

Since Taekwondo has been selected as a formal event of the Sydney Olympics, it has gained even greater popularity. There are nearly 50 million players of Taekwondo in the world. So, the market for Taekwon supplies is enormous. The price of six basic articles, including a suit for Taikwondo, is about 150,000 won, so the market is huge.

Currently, six local companies, including foreign-invested Adidas, are engaged in production of related products. But, their combined sales of Taekwondo articles were only 8.68 billion won in 1998. What is more, some companies are manufacturing them in Bangladesh, Pakistan and China on an OEM basis, although these poor-quality products are marketed as Korean products.

Taekwon instructors around the world wish to purchase products made in Korea, the suzerain state, but their quality is poor to their disappointment. On the other hand, the American Taekwondo Association (ATA) has introduced franchise system and ATA headquarters is systematically controlling from supplies to Taekwondo programs and instructors. And it enjoys handsome profit.

Recently, KOSA System, a specialized sporting goods manufacturer, drew attention of many for having concluded July 25 a development agreement for design of Taedown articles with the Art Design Engineering Center of Hongik University and has begun producing Taekwondo supplies.

Just like ATA, KOSA also plans to launch Taekwondo franchise business through tie-up with Night Storm Media (NSM), an official character maker of the Korea Taekwondo Association.

Yang Jong-Koo yjongk@donga.com