Hankook celebrates its 85th anniversary

In 2026, Hankook Tire marks its 85th anniversary, and the company's history, which is now among the top ten largest tire manufacturers in the world, began in a very dramatic period for Korea. The predecessor of Hankook, Chosun Daiya Industrial, was founded in 1941, when the country was occupied by Japan, and its creation was led by the Japanese corporation Bridgestone, and the plant opened the following year in Yeongdeungpo (now a southwestern district of Seoul) mainly produced bicycle tires.

After Korea's liberation in 1945, the enterprise was transferred to the Korean Ministry of Trade and Industry, and in 1955, the company was acquired by entrepreneur Kang Kyung-ok, who renamed it Hankook (Hangug is what South Koreans call their country in everyday speech) and resumed production in Yeongdeungpo.

In 1970, the opening of the Gyeongbu Expressway gave a powerful impetus to the development of the South Korean automotive industry, and Hankook also began to grow rapidly, competing with Samyang Tire, which is now known as Kumho Tire. In 2000, the historic Yeongdeungpo plant was closed.

Today, Hankook owns eight production sites in Asia, Europe, and North America, with a total of 20,000 employees, and its products are sold in more than 160 countries worldwide. The company's partners include 50 leading global automakers, and in 2026, the anniversary year for the company, the authoritative magazine Auto Bild recognized the Korean brand as the best (along with Goodyear) in the summer tire segment based on test results.

In 2007, Hankook launched production in Europe, opening a plant in the Hungarian town of Rácalmás, where a project to expand production was launched in 2025. By 2027, the plant is expected to launch a line for the production of 800,000 tires for trucks and buses, with an investment of 540 million euros, and the plant's workforce will increase by 450 people.

In 2025, the tire division of Hankook's sales exceeded 10 trillion won for the first time in the company's history, totaling around 6.42 billion euros, and in last year's ranking of the world's largest tire manufacturers from Tire Business, the company took seventh place.