Hyosung Group chairman Cho Suck-rae’s leadership and vision helped the spandex-maker garner record earnings last year, company officials said Monday.

“Hyosung’s spandex business, which generated more than 40 percent of total operating profits last year, is the outcome of chairman Cho’s strong tenacity in developing the synthetic fiber,” a company official said.

He recalled that Hyosung had to struggle for seven years and nearly gave up the business due to mounting losses even after it succeeded in developing spandex for the first time in Korea in the 1990s.

However, chairman Cho boosted investment and expanded supply networks, seeing his efforts begin to pay off in several years, according to the official. The company eventually rose as the global No.1 spandex supplier in 2010.

His tenacity on technology is also witnessed in the company’s latest achievements in new materials, which include carbon fiber and polyketone material.

Chairman Cho, who noted the potential growth of carbon fiber, pushed for the development of the material in 2006, and the company succeeded in launching high-performance carbon fiber as the first Korean company in 2011.

Under his technology leadership, Hyosung also began to invest in polyketone in 2004 and succeeded in developing the material in 2013, company officials added.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)