 Georgy Lapin A retrained miner cuts fabric for clothing made in Partizansk. |
A Seoul apparel manufacturing company is providing desperately needed jobs in Partizansk — while providing T-shirts and pants to the Gap, a San Francisco-based international clothing retailer.
According to a spokeswoman for the Korrus company in Partizansk, Cha Too Sook, the president of Korrus’s parent company, Seishn Apparel Company Ltd., visited the former Molodyozhnaya sewing factory on July 13, along with the president of the Korean purchasing agent for the Gap.
After approving the “exact production quality standards” of the factory’s output, the purchasing agent placed a long-term order with the factory, the spokeswoman said. The contract will be worth $6 million annually, according to press reports.
Chzu In Kha, director of Korrus’s Partizansk operation, said that 250 jobs have already been created at the factory, and 200-300 more may be added, possibly by the end of the year. Also, over the next three months, another $250,000 will be invested in the factory, primarily for sewing machines.
Production at the factory resumed May 18 this year, six months after Seishn bought the bankrupt factory at a closed auction. After establishing its affiliate — Korrus— and investing $100,000 in new sewing machines and other machinery, Seishn hired back laid-off employees and additional workers.
According to Chzu, one of Seishn’s largest customers is the Gap, which in the first half of 1998 had over $1.7 billion in retail sales of casual apparel, personal care and other accessories in six different countries. With the conclusion of this contract, Korrus joins Seishn’s other manufacturing facilities, in Seoul and the Philippines, in supplying clothes to the U.S. company.
Government-mandated mine closures in this predominantly blue collar mining region three hours east of Vladivostok have hit Partizansk hard.
Where the four primary mines in the region used to employ nearly 12,000 a decade ago, the number of workers in the mines had dwindled to 3,100 when they were shut down earlier this year.
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