New Il Hwa Ginseng Factory Inaugurated

On Aug. 3, 1973, a colorful inauguration ceremony was held in the auditorium of the newly-built Il Hwa Pharmaceutical Company processing plant at Sootaek-Ri.

At 10:35 a.m., at the main entrance of the building, our Leader, Mother, Mrs. [Won Pok] Choi, Manager Sung-pyo Hong, President [Young Hwi] Kim, and Mr. Oyama cut the ceremonial ribbon, and the building was opened to the public and visitors.

Our Leader speaks at Inauguration ceremony

Manager Hong said in his opening report, “We are very glad and proud that we planned to export ginseng products earlier than the government.” He reported that the plan for the new plant was conceived on August 26, 1972, to construct the expanded, more modern facilities at Sootaek-ri, moving from the old plant in Seoul. “Finally we have an up-to-date building after seven months since the groundbreaking in September last year,” he said.

New extraction tanks at newly-built Il Hwa Plant

Our Leader initiated the plan for the ginseng business on May 24, 1971, and the company got

authorization from the Government on December 16, 1971, and exported “Il Hwa Korean Ginseng Tea” to Japan for the first time in February 7, 1972.

Cultural Affairs Director Kwang-yol Yoo recited a congratulatory poem, and Mr. Oyama gave a humorous and enjoyable encouraging address. Our Leader said in his address, “Korean Ginseng products are ‘manna’ in God’s providence, and Korean-made ginseng will contribute very much to the health of mankind. Today’s inauguration is a meaningful service to God. ‘Il Hwa’ (meaning harmonized oneness) has the idea of unification, “The prospects of this company are very bright. This project will be a foundation for us to enter the world economic field; so we must be diligent and zealous to produce good products. Ginseng is a gift from God, not only to the people of Korea but to the people of the whole world.

So, through this precious ginseng, we Korean Family members have to make mankind healthier, and make them love Korea from their hearts as well as in the view of the Divine Principle. All the workers here must do their best to love the factory with the spirit of ‘Il Hwa’,” he insisted. The new building has two stories above ground and one story in the basement. It is able to produce 36,000 bottles of ginseng tea a day, and export $1,440,000 worth of produce per month, and has 102 workers.

At the ceremony, two plaques of appreciation were given to the offices of Mr. Duck-Moon Aum and Tongil Industries for their help in the completion of the building. Also citations were given to three outstanding workers: Mr. Soon-kun Hong, Mr. Dong-kun Kim and Miss Myung-ja Kwak for their dedicated services.