CEO Kim Kil-sun poses at the Brahma Park Golf headquarters in Gangseo-gu, Busan, on the 11th. Reporter Moon Ye-bin
“Counterfeit Korean park golf clubs are threatening the industry itself. Strong regulation and self-correcting efforts within the industry are urgently needed. Without improvement, we will lose industry leadership to foreign players, just as happened with golf clubs.”
Kim Kil-sun, CEO of Brahma Park Golf, made these remarks during an interview with Seoul Economic Daily at the company’s headquarters in Gangseo-gu, Busan, on Tuesday. “If consumers come to doubt Korean technology itself because of Chinese products disguised as domestic goods, it could ultimately lead to the collapse of Korea’s manufacturing competitiveness,” he said.
Kim has devoted 48 years exclusively to golf club manufacturing, witnessing the history of Korean golf club brands. He stressed that the domestic park golf industry now stands at a critical turning point. His view is that Korea must not repeat the mistakes of the 1970s and 1980s, when the domestic golf industry missed its growth opportunity. “We must not repeat the mistake of losing industry leadership to foreign players when policy failures combined with opaque distribution structures in the golf club industry back then,” Kim said. “Institutional mechanisms must be established to protect honest manufacturers and artisans.” He added, “I am concerned that the wrongdoing of a few companies is creating a structure in which even honest domestic manufacturers face distrust.”
Brahma “CP-01” club heads that have completed primary processing are on display at the Brahma Park Golf factory in Gangseo-gu, Busan. Reporter Moon Ye-bin
A graduate in metallurgical engineering, Kim worked at a defense company in the 1970s before entering golf club manufacturing. He handled original equipment manufacturing (OEM) for global brands. In 2018, he shifted his core business by launching his first park golf club. Building on his golf club manufacturing experience, he personally oversees the entire process from research and development (R&D) to CNC precision machining and assembly. Brahma is regarded as one of the few manufacturing-based companies in the market that maintains an in-house production system. Since entering the market, it has grown nearly 400% to become one of the leading companies in the park golf club market.
Brahma has consistently invested in advancing its park golf clubs. This reflects Kim’s philosophy that “for Korea to lead the global park golf market, the key is ultimately technological competitiveness.” He directly operates key production processes, including head manufacturing, at a factory adjacent to the Busan headquarters. The company has built a precision manufacturing system that manages swing weight margins within 2 to 3 grams by introducing high-end advanced processing equipment and artificial intelligence (AI) sensors. As a result, starting with its first model “CP-01,” the company has expanded its lineup to include the “DM” series for professional players and the “SP” series for men and women. “Because wood is sensitive to temperature and humidity, we have gone through trial and error that even led us to scrap an entire year’s worth of products,” Kim said. “No matter what, I uphold the principle that club manufacturing is a field of science and data.” He added, “Even if people call me stubborn, I will remain an entrepreneur who sticks to principles until the end.”