Reports say Ssangyong C&B makes tissue under the APP group’s Paseo brand at its Sejong plant for export to Thailand, with Korean flag graphics and a “Made in Korea” origin marking on the export packaging. Three questions should remain separate: Who owns the brand? Where is the product made? Which packaging artwork has been approved? An origin graphic does not by itself certify the packaging substrate or prove the number of shipments.
In an October 14 Yonhap interview at the plant, production head Bang Hyeong-sik said the company had been producing Paseo goods in Korea and exporting finished products to Thailand since July, with the volume roughly doubling from October. He also said exports were still a small share of total production. These are statements by a company representative, not a published base volume, export value or packaging specification.
Three labels, three types of evidence
- Brand: Paseo belongs to the APP group. It should not be confused with Ssangyong C&B’s domestic Cody brand.
- Production and origin: The report describes finished tissue made at Sejong for Thailand. Read the “Made in Korea” claim in that product-specific context; do not generalize it to everything sold by the group.
- Packaging artwork: The report describes use of a Korean flag and English origin wording. Public reporting does not establish whether the same design is used for every SKU, outer case or channel, nor whether a destination-market review has been completed.
A separate Korea M&A Economy report describes the distinction between Indonesian pulp supply, Korean manufacture, the group’s international brand and Southeast Asian sales channels. It also says the precise export volume and value have not been disclosed. “Doubled” is a relative change, not an absolute tonnage or market share. Where both stories rely on company statements, their publication in two outlets is not two independent measurements of export performance.
What an export-packaging buyer should check
These are editorial due-diligence questions, not a description of Ssangyong C&B’s actual approval process or its verified case specifications.
- SKU and manufacturing record: Tie each export product, plant, packaging lot and contract to the manufacturer and brand owner.
- Artwork and origin approvals: Version the flag, origin wording and trademark separately for consumer packaging, multipacks and transport cases. Check artwork permission and destination-market marking rules rather than assuming one approval covers both.
- Shipments and protection: Verify trends against actual shipping and transaction records. Ask for separate board, compression, stacking and transit requirements for the outer case. No corrugated construction or test pass follows from the news story alone.
The news is the company’s account of increased Thai exports of a global-brand tissue made in Korea, together with its described origin graphics. For a packaging supplier, that leaves brand, manufacturing origin and printed marking to be traced to evidence at SKU level—not collapsed into a single “Korean premium” claim.
About the Author
PackingMaster is the PaperPackLog editor, covering paper packaging markets, products, and technical questions.