Awesome Korea

Soy sauce is made from soybeans, wheat, salt, and water. Food Kingdom visited a Korean factory that makes a more complex condiment. There, they combine 15 ingredients, including vinegar, pears, mushrooms, kelp, garlic, and pepper. After cooking and straining, the liquid sits in urns and is finished with more fruit, sugar, and wine. Strangely, we saw no soybeans.

This factory video from All Process of World takes us inside Hyundai Sungwoo Casting for a look at the machinery used to produce wheels. The process starts by melting aluminum bars, pouring the molten metal into molds, then quenching the wheels for strength before grinding away excess metal and finishing them.

When we were kids, we built our share of models. All Process of World takes us on a tour of Korea’s Academy Plastic Model Co. for a look at how they manufacture model airplane kits. They start by creating a 3D computer design used to machine a precise metal mold, then use those parts to injection mold plastic for the models.

The Earth’s oceans are filled with harmful plastics. So, if you’re going to use a straw, make it biodegradable or reusable. All Process of World takes us inside a Korean factory to show us how they crank out millions of these eco-friendly straws every day by heating and extruding a biodegradable polymer. It’s basically one really long straw until they chop it up.

All Process of World takes on a tour of a steel factory in Korea that produces rebar, plates, I-beams, and other large metal parts for construction. The vast, mechanized facility takes piles of scrap steel, melts it down in an enormous cauldron, then extrudes the molten metal into shapes. Plasma cutters then slice parts into shorter pieces before hardening.

Most saw blades are made by machine these days. But the Daedong Saw factory in Korea still makes them by hand. Mega Process takes us on a behind-the-scenes tour of the facility to see how skilled craftspeople cut, punch, and sharpen every tooth of every blade with care and precision.

This action-packed Korean sci-fi series envisions a future where only 1% of the population survives catastrophic climate change. While a handful of elites live underground, those on the dusty and dystopian surface rely on deliverymen to bring them critical supplies and fight off raiders. Coming to Netflix 5.12.2023.

This factory in Korea uses specialized machines to produce cosmetic contact lenses in mass quantities. All Process of World posted this footage from the DK Medivision factory to see how machines precisely apply designs to silicone hydrogel lenses, float them in hygienic solution, then deposit them into packages.

Zoom in Progress takes us on a tour of a factory in Korea that produces full-color product packaging. Along the way, you’ll see their printing operations, along with their gluing, die-cutting, and box-folding machines. But the most satisfying part is when they use hand tools to remove the edge pieces from the cardboard.

Mega Process takes us on a tour of a factory that produces unique, high-end pens using 3D-printed metal. Merain Korea uses a selective laser sintering 3D printer to melt together thin layers of metal powder, then painstakingly deburr, clean, and plate each pen before assembly and packaging.

The buttons on our clothing are one of those things we take for granted. But it’s somebody’s job to make them for us. All of World Process takes us inside of a factory that cranks out buttons by the thousands. They pour liquid plastic into tubes or sheets, slice or cut out button shapes, then drill and tumble them until shiny.

This satisfying compilation video from Food Kingdom takes us on a tour of five factories in Korea that make different kinds of foods. We start off with rainbow-colored cake layers, followed by corn chip snacks, deep-fried and stuffed tofu pouches, chocolate nut mini brownies, and chocolate cakes. We’re so hungry now.

Music on vinyl has made a comeback here in America, so a number of factories here can press records. But there’s only one record manufacturer in Korea – Machang Music & Pictures. All Process of World takes us inside the factory for a look at the process of creating a master disc which is used to press tiny grooves into vinyl blanks.

Korean restaurant chain UFO Burger makes sandwiches that come sealed inside of a UFO-shaped bun. The design keeps its contents from spilling out and just plain looks cool. In addition to cheeseburgers, they make bulgogi and spicy chicken sammies. We’re hoping that they expand outside of Korea so we can eat some.

Modern rice cookers are made from metal and plastic, but traditional Korean rice cookers are made from stone. This fascinating video from Factory Monster takes us inside a company that creates the bowl-shaped cookers and their lids by cutting them from a 9-ton boulder. The English subtitles are quite entertaining.

Factory Monster takes us inside a facility that produces knit sweaters. The first production line dyes thread and winds it onto paper cones. Then another team loads the thread into electronic knitting machines, which knit panels. Finally, knitters assemble the panels on sewing machines and do the finishing work.