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Vinylon, also known as Vinalon (more common in Korean sources), is a synthetic fiber produced from reaction between polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) fiber and formaldehyde. Chemically it is polyvinyl formal ( PVF). Vinylon was first developed in Japan in 1939 by , Ri Sung-gi, and H. Kawakami.Patent no. 147,958, February 20, 1941, Ichiro Sakurada, Yi Sung-ki Lee. S. or Ri. Sung．Gi. and Hiroshi Kawakami, issued to Institute of Japan Chemical Fiber. In North Korea, Ri Sung-gi found a route to produce PVA from domestic anthracite (black coal) and limestone as raw materials. Trial production began in 1954 and in 1961 the massive "Vinylon City" was built in Hamhung, North Korea. Vinylon's widespread usage in North Korea is often pointed to as an example of the implementation of the Juche philosophy, and it is known as the Juche fiber. (2025). 9780385523905, Spigel & Grau. ISBN 9780385523905
PVF, in fiber form, is a useful thermoplastic resin on its own, most commonly used as electric wire insulation.
Japanese-Canadian textile artist Toshiko MacAdam used vinylon in her early works, as it was more economical than nylon.
Swedish outdoor brand Fjällräven makes their popular Kånken backpack line out of a version of vinylon, branded Vinylon F.
Other locations may use alternative feedstocks to synthesize PVOH.
The first successful creation of Vinylon was in 1939, by a Kyoto University research team in Japan,Lee, Hy-Sang. North Korea: A Strange Socialist Fortress. Westport, Conn., Praeger, 2001. using petroleum as the feedstock.
However, Vinylon was later brought to North Korea by Ri Sung-gi, one of the researchers of the Kyoto University team, amid North Korean campaign aimed at the recruitment of scientists and engineers from South Korea in the period following Korea's liberation from Japan in 1945. He was working as a professor at Seoul National University at the time. During the Korean War, when Seoul was occupied by the Korean People's Army, Ri was offered a research position in North Korea, which he accepted. He found a way to produce Vinylon from coal.
However, in the 1960s, the aid from the Soviet Union decreased. North Korea was no longer receiving aid in the form of grants, but loans. Hence, the North Korean leadership decided to accelerate efforts towards developing a self-sufficient economy. This resulted in the full mobilization of domestic resources. Beginning in 1961, North Korea launched its First Seven-Year Economic Development Plan, which focused on technological innovations, cultural revolution, improvement of living standards, modernization of the economy, and the facilitation of trade and international economic cooperation. As a result, the North Korean government decided to develop the vinylon industry and build the February 8 Vinylon Complex, nicknamed Vinylon City.]] In the early stages of North Korea's history, the government under Kim Il Sung and the official " Juche" (self-reliance) ideology promoted the idea that the only way to reach the goal of economic independence was through heavy machine industry. The manufacturing of vinylon was therefore taken as a step towards developing North Korea as a modern industrial state. With such an appeal to nationalism, the North Korean government mobilized its citizens for constructing and supporting a new vinylon factory, called Vinylon City.
In 1961, Vinylon City, the factory compound for producing vinylon, was built in the northeastern industrial city of Hungnam. The construction of the factory took fourteen months, which was quite fast considering that fifty buildings made up Vinylon City. Vinylon City had a total floor space of , 15,000 production machines, 1,700 container tanks, and of piping. The tallest building in Vinylon City, measuring in height with a smokestack, was the acetic acid shop. The spinning shop, which was responsible of creating the vinylon fiber and shipping, was the largest building— long and wide, with floor space.
Vinylon City became the pride of North Korea, being touted as having been built without foreign assistance. The success of Vinylon City demonstrated independence from the Soviet Union and China and appeared to reflect the Juche ideology. Even though workers had to complete dangerous tasks and some ultimately lost their lives for the sake of demonstrating the country's capabilities, vinylon thus served as a reinforcement of the party's ideological command and the Kim family's rule.
The city began with a goal of producing enough fiber to supply the entire country with clothing, shoes, and other necessities, a goal that appears to have been met for several decades. The fiber produced from Vinylon City was considered so important that during the annual commemoration of Kim Il-sung's birthday, the people were given gifts of vinylon clothing.Demick, Barbara. Nothing to Envy : Ordinary Lives in North Korea. 1st ed. New York: Spiegel & Grau, 2009. Print. The factory is said to have hit a production ceiling in 1973. A second complex was planned in 1983 but never built.
After the North Korean economy recovered, the complex remained closed until 2010. During this time, the vinalon market was replaced by other fabrics, some made domestically, others imported from China. One defector said that only the army continued to purchase this material.
In his new-year speech for 2017, Kim Jong Un expressed plans to revamp the Vinylon City.
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