Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
50 years later, Seoul honors 'textile king' who gifted land for Korean embassy in Japan
Seo Gap-ho / Courtesy of Overseas Koreans Agency
By Bahk Eun-ji
“Your homeland should never be a source of shame.”
That was the guiding belief of Seo Gap-ho (1914-76), a Korean entrepreneur who rose from poverty during Korea’s colonial period under Japanese rule to become known as the “Textile King of Osaka.”
In 1962, he donated land and a building in the Azabu 1-chome district of central Tokyo — now the site of the Korean Embassy in Japan — to the Korean government. He later helped fund the relocation of the Korean Consulate in Osaka and personally supported the Kongo Gakuen Korean school in the city. This ensured that young Koreans in Japan could continue to learn about their heritage and language.
Nearly five decades after his passing, his legacy continues to be recognized as the Overseas Koreans Agency named him Overseas Korean of the Month for October 2025.
His contribution also lives on at the Korean Embassy in Tokyo, where he is honored through Dongmyeong Hall and Seo Gap-ho Day, held each year on Nov. 1 at the site of the Korean embassy.
Born in Ulju, South Gyeongsang Province, Seo left for Osaka alone when he was just 9 years old. After years of hardship and long days in factories, he mastered textile spinning and in 1948 founded Sakamoto Spinning, which grew into one of Japan’s leading textile companies.
Seo was also a pioneer of investing in his homeland. In 1963, he acquired Taechang Textile in the Yeongdeungpo district of Seoul and founded Panbon Spinning, marking the first large-scale investment in Korea by a Korean living abroad.
He went on to found Banglim Spinning and Yunseong Spinning, companies that boosted Korea’s textile exports and created stable jobs for thousands of young women during the country’s early industrialization period.
Although bankruptcy followed a devastating factory fire and the global oil crisis of the mid-1970s, Seo’s devotion never faltered. He died in 1976 at the age of 62, and the Korean government later honored him with the Order of Civil Merit and the Dongbaek Medal.