Awesome Korea

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 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.

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.

Mega Process takes us on a tour of Zion Industrial Co., which apparently is the last shovel factory in South Korea. The laborious process starts with freshly-cut oak trees, milling the timber into boards, sanding until round, trimming, then splitting, steaming, and bending the wood to hold the shape for its handle.

South Korea is developing a weapon-defense system that can protect against long-range missiles. The “kill vehicle” can rapidly adjust its position using thrusters on its sides, making it difficult to avoid. See it in action at the 26-second mark in the video, right after Korea shows off their own long-range surface-to-air missiles.

For thousands of years, gold has been one of the most valuable commodities on earth. In this video from Factory Monster, they take us inside the Korea Gold Exchange for a satisfying look at how nondescript bars of gold are melted down, flattened, cut, and stamped into pristine 999.9% pure gold ingots for resale.

Food Kingdom takes us inside the kitchen at Korea’s Saebil Patisserie for a satisfying baking video. After cooking up some yummy-looking croissants, they crank out dozens of cube-shaped breads, which spiral like a tornado in the center. We also enjoyed watching all those oranges take a bath before being sliced up for marmalade.

This commercial spot for Korean fast food joint Barun Chicken starts out as a tribute to the Coen Brothers’ creepy 2007 thriller No Country for Old Men. But things lighten up quickly after it’s revealed that’s not Javier Bardem under the wig.

It’s been a while since we booted up a computer running Windows XP or Vista, but the memories came flooding back as soon as we clicked play on this clip from Korean a capella group MayTree, who sang some of memorable sounds from Microsoft’s early-2000s operating systems. Their Movie Intro Medley is a hoot too.

World traveler and filmmaker Brandon Li spent a month in Seoul, Korea capturing images of the vibrant lives of its citizens from all walks of life, deftly transitioning between images of the city’s mix of traditional and modern urban lifestyles. Director’s commentary video here.

Thanks to our friends at Toyota, we had the good fortune to visit this year’s Winter Olympic games in Pyeongchang, South Korea. From the athletes to spectators to the Koreans who ran the show, the Olympics showcased the best of people in these trying times.

Fashion brand COS teamed up with the awesomely-named Snarkitecture to build an epic marble track in Seoul, Korea, consisting of over 1300 feet of suspended track, on which white glass marbles roll. The ride culminates with each marble ending up in a massive pile.

Korea’s Hankook Mirae corporation is developing a real world take on the movie and video game staple – the manned mech suit. Autoblog’s Translogic managed to score a hands-on demo of their Method v2 robot. It doesn’t move fast, but it sure is impressive.

Haejang-guk is a popular Korean soup. Its name literally means “soup to chase a hangover.” It’s made of vegetables, rice and meat in beef broth. Great Big Story spoke with the current owner of Cheong Jin Ok, the restaurant that supposedly came up with the soup.