I put a cigarette in my mouth and rummaged through my pocket, but there was no “fire”. What I had rolled a few times in the past was invisible when absolutely necessary. I bought a lighter for 400 won at a convenience store, not a free lighter for a promotion that was advertised. The words “Firetin” were written on the lighter, bringing out nostalgia.
The last lighter manufacturer in Korea, “Ace Industrial”, is located in Yangju, Gyeonggi Province. Up to 450,000 disposable lighters are produced here every day under the names of “Filtina” and “Ace”. Mentioning disposable lighters, it is easy to think of imported products from China and Southeast Asia. However, for nearly 10 years, “Ace Industries” has been guarding the pride of domestic lighters. This year, the company’s share of disposable lighter convenience stores (based on FamilyMart) is about 75%.
I visited “Ace Industries”, which has only produced disposable lighters for 23 years. The company’s lighters are composed of a total of 23 parts. Most of the parts, except for the flint, are made with our own equipment. From one side of the factory came a harsh machine noise. This is an injection molding machine that prints the lighter body, head and bottom plate from plastic raw materials. Warm translucent yellow, red, green and purple lighter bodies move non-stop on a conveyor belt connected to the machine. On one side, 3,600 strands of wicks woven with fifteen bundles of wire are coated and then cut to length. When the wick is attached to the lighter head and then combined with the body again, it is moved to the gas injection chamber. The gas injector injects a mixed liquefied gas of propane and butane into the lighter body. This time, the body is continuously evacuated and compressed, and a head cover with a flint is placed on it.
If the automatic and semi-automatic processes so far have been done by machines, the defect detection test called “fire inspection” is done by human hands. Jin Shunlai, who has 20 years of experience, lights the lighters in units of 10 and picks out the defective lighters that cannot be opened. Its speed is faster than any other machine there. Finally, if a product description sticker with the Taegeukgi is attached to the body of the car, it will be sold as a lighter.
Ace Industries has about 70 employees. Lee Dong-hyun, who is in charge of public relations, said, “The number of employees has been reduced by half compared to the late 1980s, when disposable lighters were popular and selected as a hot product. It played an advantage and seems to have survived until now.”
Like matches, home lighters never know when they will disappear silently. Since 1995, a large number of imported low-priced Chinese products have been provided free of charge for promotional purposes, and disposable lighters have become worthless even if they are broken or lost. In 2003, Ace Industries’ disposable lighter market share was 90%, but this year it has dropped by 15% due to the emergence of electronic lighters made in China, which cost 200 won more than flint lighters. Ace Industries is also preparing electronic lighter facilities, but it cannot be realized for the time being due to insufficient funds. The last remaining lighter factory in South Korea tells the story of domestic small and medium-sized manufacturers being ignored by price competitiveness even if they produce good quality products.
