The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises convened the industry committee to discuss response measures to the textile sector crisis and decided to recommend to the government easing cost burdens arising from the expansion of domestic production of military clothing and expanding the use of domestically made fabrics in public procurement.
The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Enterprises said on Apr. 22 in Yeouido, Seoul, that it held the "2026 first textile industry committee" and reviewed the recent business environment for the textile sector and response tasks.
The industry assessed that difficulties are mounting as Middle East exports have contracted amid the prolonged U.S.-Iran tensions, compounded by rising raw and subsidiary material prices and tougher environmental regulations.
Park Yun-chul, a principal researcher at the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH), said, "Korea's textile industry is seeing a long-term decline in the number of firms, production, and exports, while logistics disruptions, strengthened carbon regulations, and the European Union's digital product passport (DPP) are adding up to increase external environmental burdens."
The industry particularly pointed to a structural problem in which cost burdens and fabric procurement risks concentrate on small sewing firms during the process of expanding domestic production of military clothing. It decided to convey to the relevant ministries the view that there is a need to make estimated prices more realistic and to establish a framework to share the burden of fabric procurement.
The need for institutional improvements to expand the use of domestically made fabrics in the public clothing sector was also raised.
The industry also suggested leveraging the domestic textile industry's upstream and downstream production structure spanning from yarn to finished goods as a strength to drive restructuring toward high value-added industrial and functional materials and to bolster K-fashion competitiveness.
Textile industry committee chair Kim Gwon-gi said, "Industry burdens are growing as Middle East export disruptions, higher raw and subsidiary material prices, and tougher European environmental regulations converge," adding, "We will work to ensure that measures to expand domestic production of military clothing and the use of domestically made fabrics in public procurement are reflected in policy."