KGC (originally Korea Ginseng Corporation, Korea Ginseng Corp. Korean : 한국인삼공사, Hanguk Insam Gongsa) is a ginseng company in South Korea. KGC's representative ginseng brand 'Cheong Kwan Jang's (정관장 正官庄) share in korean ginseng market is known to be dominant around over 80% and also accounted for to be 35% of Korea's total health products market in 2011.[1]
KGC produces popular Korean Red Ginseng products under the brand name 'Cheong Kwan Jang' in such different format as Korean Red Ginseng Heaven/Earth/Good, Korean Red Ginseng Extract, Korean Red Ginseng Powder, Honeyed Korean Red Ginseng Slices, Korean Red Ginseng Tonic, etc in order to meet with consumers various demand. It has expanded outside Korea, especially into the East Asian market like China and Taiwan.
KGC is a subsidiary company of KT&G, and its two headquarters are in Seoul and Daejeon.
History
Korean Ginseng Corporation was founded in 1899 Samjungkwa was established as the forerunner of the Korean Ginseng Corporation. And in 1908 the company was monopolized.
Fast-forward to the 1940s KGC's brand of Korean Red Ginseng, CKJ, is known as Cheong-Kwan-Jang in Korea and overseas. This brand name goes back to the early 1940s. Because of increased export demand for Korean Red Ginseng at the end of the Japanese colonial period, many fake roots were prospering. To find a way to distinguish real ginseng, the Monopoly Bureau of the Japanese General Government began using the label "Cheong-Kwan-Jang", which is translated as "officially government approved".