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A toy story unfolds in Ulsan as donations go from broken to beloved again

Published: 12 Sep. 2025, 20:00

Children look at toys that have been repaired and remade at Kokkiri Gongjang in Ulsan on Aug. 27. [KOKKIRI GONGJANG]

In Ulsan, there is a workshop where discarded toys are repaired and displayed on shelves for eager children to pick out — a place known as Kokkiri Gongjang.

At its heart is CEO Lee Chae-jin, 41, affectionately called the “toy doctor,” who leads the effort to breathe new life into broken dolls, robots and cars.

When the JoongAng Ilbo visited Kokkiri Gongjang in Jung District, Ulsan, on Aug. 27, the scene inside looked more like a junkyard than a workshop: dolls and robots with missing arms and legs, toy fire trucks without wheels, broken play kitchen sets, all stacked to the ceiling.

But here, each piece of plastic and metal prepares to be reborn for children once again.

On one side of the workshop, repaired robots are neatly displayed. Nearby are “junk art” sculptures — globes and pine tree models crafted from discarded toy parts. Retired seniors, hired as staff, busily sort and fix donations.

Kokkiri Gongjang in Busan [KOKKIRI GONGJANG]

Each day, Kokkiri Gongjang receives about two tons of abandoned toys from homes, daycare centers, companies and children’s facilities. A single group donation can quickly add up to tons.

The toys’ destinies diverge once inside the factory. Those that can be fixed are dismantled, washed, disinfected and reassembled to look like new. Those beyond repair are shredded into plastic pellets, which are sold to petrochemical firms for recycling.

Each year, about 60,000 restored toys are distributed to local children’s facilities and low-income families, while another 30,000 are sent abroad through volunteer groups to Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Mongolia and even Syrian refugee camps.

Repaired robot toys are displayed at Kokkiri Gongjang on Aug. 27. [KIM YOUN-HO]

Lee studied child and family welfare at the University of Ulsan and briefly worked as a day care teacher before joining Ulsan Support Center For Childcare, a government institution, where he managed toy rentals.

“Watching toys break so easily and get thrown away made me think — why not fix them and reuse them?” he recalled.

In 2011, he formed a volunteer group with friends called the “Toy Repair Dads,” working out of a small shop to disinfect, repaint and repair old toys. “When I saw children hug those toys again and smile, I knew this was my path,” Lee said. In 2014, the group evolved into Kokkiri Gongjang, which later became a certified social enterprise with the purpose of giving back to the community.

Toys fill a storage space next to the office at Kokkiri Gongjang in Ulsan on Aug. 27. [KIM YOUN-HO]

The factory’s strength comes from retirees. Today, around 100 seniors, along with 20 full-time staff, receive wages while working to repair toys.

The initiative is spreading beyond Ulsan. In 2022, Busan launched its own toy recycling program in partnership with Kokkiri Gongjang. Since August, the Seoul Design Foundation has been piloting a “Seoul Kokkiri Gongjang” at the Seoul Upcycling Plaza.

Interest from overseas is also growing. Officials from Paraguay, Indonesia and Thailand have visited to learn the recycling methods, and the United Nations Environment Programme praised Kokkiri Gongjang as “a globally rare model of resource circulation.” Lee himself has been recognized with awards from the Ministry Trade, Industry and Energy in 2021, the Ministries of Employment and Labor as well as Environment in 2022 and the Ministry of Health and Welfare in 2023.

But he insists his work is far from finished.

“Play should never be divided by wealth,” Lee said. “My dream is to expand Kokkiri Gongjang worldwide, so that more children can smile through toys — and we can help protect the planet at the same time.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM YOUN-HO [[email protected]]