Employees work at a mask manufacturing factory in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, March 6, 2020. Joint Press Corps

By Lee Hyo-jin

Korea grappled with a severe shortage of masks in early spring 2020, when face masks seemed to be the best protection against the coronavirus before the arrival of vaccines and treatments.

People had to line up at pharmacies and retail stores to buy face masks amid explosive demand and limited supply, while the government came up with a public distribution method ― a five-day rotation system under which people could buy two masks per week on designated days according to their birth year.

Hundreds of small manufacturers that rushed to produce face masks enjoyed a boom following the implementation of the mask mandate, which was first adopted indoors in October 2020 and then expanded to outdoors in April 2021.

According to data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the number of mask manufacturers, which stood at 137 in January 2020, increased by more than 10 times to reach nearly 1,600 as of December 2021.

However, these businesses are now on the verge of collapse as the country braces to transition from pandemic to endemic, in which masks may no longer be required.

On Monday, the government fully lifted all remaining outdoor mask-wearing rules, including at large gatherings of 50 or more people such as sporting events and concerts.

Indoor mask requirements will remain in place for the time being due to concerns over a possible "twindemic" of seasonal influenza and a potential resurgence of COVID-19 infections this winter. But some health experts anticipate the mandate to be scrapped as early as next spring as the government mulls an exit from the pandemic.

These developments may come as good news to people who have been yearning to remove their masks. But the lifting of mask mandates is expected to deal a heavy blow to the mask producers who are already struggling with declining demand.

According to data from the drug ministry, only 30.4 percent of 1,591 authorized mask companies manufactured their products in the first quarter of 2022, meaning that two-thirds of the total businesses have virtually halted operations.

Seok Ho-gil, head of the Korea Mask Industry Association which represents about 390 mask manufacturers, viewed that the government should more actively step in to save the companies amid falling demand.

"About 90 percent of our members worried about the continued easing of mask requirements, which is expected to lead to about a 40 percent to 50 percent decrease in overall production," he told The Korea Times, Wednesday.

Many manufacturers ramped up their production and enhanced capacity in the early days of the pandemic when the government encouraged them to do so, guaranteeing that they would receive support later once demand decreases.

Seok insisted that the country's mask production capability should be preserved to some extent, so that producers can easily ramp up output again in case of future health crises.

With domestic demand expected to decline further, the association is struggling to find ways to bolster exports. But it's not easy to compete with low-priced Chinese masks that already dominate the global market, he says.

"Korean Filter (KF-94) masks boast high quality compared to Chinese (KN95) masks, but it's difficult to compete with them in terms of price. And the Chinese products have already dominated the U.S. and European markets," he said. "We hope the government can introduce feasible support measures, such as helping us secure contracts with other countries through government-level negotiations."