Master craftsman's career culminates in line with KOMSCO's ICT transition

The career path of Jung Byeong-jin, a government-recognized master craftsman in printing technology, parallels the growth of Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp. (KOMSCO), where he has been working for more than 30 years.

Jung Byeong-jin, a government-recognized master craftsfman, poses before a promotional poster of the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corp. (KOMSCO) at KOMSCO headquarters in Daejeon in this undated photo. Courtesy of KOMSCO

Jung, 50, joined KOMSCO as a trainee in 1991 when he was a senior at a vocational high school in Daejeon that fostered skills in the manufacturing industry.

It was also when KOMSCO, a state-run company and the country’s sole manufacturer of currency, was completely occupied with its conventional businesses of printing banknotes, minting circulating coins and producing means of identification, such as passports.

“Since then, I built expertise in printing and quality control of products, going through trial and error to hone skills that still come in useful to date in KOMSCO’s transition to an information and communications technology-oriented business entity,” Jung told The Korea Times in a written interview this week.

He said he is “proud and thankful for playing a role” in KOMSCO’s path to transformation, noting his area of focus is now electronic passports and mobile identification.

“The relevant technology is behind elevating KOMSCO’s international reputation,” he said, pointing out that mobile identity, as an intangible asset, is exported to several developing countries in Asia.

Jung Byeong-jin holds specialized paper material used in making electronic passports. Courtesy of KOMSCO

Jung received multiple national honors in recognition of his skills, including two from presidents in 2010 and 2022, respectively, one from the prime minister in 2016 and another from the labor minister in 2020.

In particular, the 2022 honor, titled "master craftsman of the Republic of Korea," is the highest those who practice a handcraft as a job can receive.

"In that regard, I find this honor meaningful not only personally but also as a member of KOMSCO and as a Korean national," he said.

He drew an analogy between the technology of KOMSCO and that of "jikji," a 14th-century Korean Buddhist document that remains the world's oldest existing book printed with movable metal type.

"I think my honor is extended from centuries of technology in the printing press developed by our great ancestors," Jung said.

For potential Korean master craftsmen in the future, he told them to "be filled with pride and self-esteem for coming from a country that boasts the world's top-ranked technology in document security."

"No one can master a skill to become the best in a day or two, but they certainly will do so eventually if their know-how and expertise build over time, just as I did," he said.