President`s sunglasses and patriotism marketing

Sunglasses add an air of mystery. The scene of "Breakfast at Tiffany’s" where actress Audrey Hepburn wearing sunglasses was standing outside of a Tiffany store is one of the greatest movie scenes ever. Most of the middle-aged women had a crush on actor James Dean who starred in "Rebel without a Cause" wearing jeans and sunglasses. The picture of the late former President Park Chung-hee, who was wearing black sunglasses and watching the march of the Korea Military Academy cadets after the May 16 coup, is one of the major memorable moments in the modern history of Korea.

Red-colored sunglasses that President Park Geun-hye was wearing during the military parade in China on Thursday are known to be sunglasses made by a domestic company. The manufacturer, a local glasses frame and sunglasses manufacturer named See Sun in Daegu, and the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae confirmed that President Park’s sunglasses are the model awarded in the Red Dot Award of Germany, one of the world’s top three design awards, last year. The sunglasses are made of Ultem, an innovative material which is light and flexible, and priced at 178,000 won (approx. 147.56 U.S. dollars).

Daegu once was the center of glasses manufacturing industry, but the domestic glasses industry was driven to extinction by a huge volume of low-priced products made in China. Now the local industry has revived by developing a new technology to mold Ultem, the material used to produce parts for airplanes, into glasses frames. As Samsung Electronics relocated its cell phone factories to abroad, many primary and secondary part manufacturers in Daegu lost their jobs. These local small-sized manufacturers joined hands with the glasses frame makers and provided with the technology to process surfaces of injection molding frames made of Ultem. By doing so, the local manufacturers have given a birth to the world’s best glasses frame technology. The number of related companies in Daegu has increased from 300 to 600 over the past six years. Daegu now accounts for 80 percent of production and exports of glasses frames made in Korea. The annual export volume has also grown from 85 million dollars to 120 million dollars.

Like the coat that actress Jeon Ji-hyeon wore or the shirt that actor Kim Soo-hyun wore in the Korean drama "My Love from the Star," fashion of celebrities easily draws the public’s attention. Not to mention sunglasses, clothes and shoes made by Italian, French and American fashion brands are gaining popularity among Koreans. But domestic fashion brands are producing high-quality clothes and accessories. If Korean celebrities wear domestic brands’ fashion goods, it will be a great help for promotion of local brands. If businessmen such as Samsung Group Vice Chairman Lee Jae-young and Shinsegae Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin, or government officials appear at official events wearing ties or shoes made by domestic companies, it will be a great patriotism marketing for products made in Korea.