Dear all,

Greetings from PACOM! Happy New Year, the year 2025! The Year of the Snake is upon us.

There were some big things happening at the end of the year, both in Korea and abroad, and so we've been exceptionally busy.

Anyway, on to the news--I am sure you are dying to hear about what the heck is happening over here.

Martial law and PACOM

The words "martial law" are not exactly what you want to hear that your country went through while you were asleep in your bed--and yet, that's exactly what happened last month in Korea. The background for the kerfuffle is long and tedious, but the gist of it is that at the moment, the enactment of martial law was a measure undertaken by President Yoon as a form of protest against a combative majority opposition--so far as we know to this point, anyway. Things have gotten to a point where the President is now undergoing impeachment--the second time in a decade that this has happened.

While the ramifications of the 3-hour brush with martial law and subsequent presidential impeachment are ongoing, I'm sure what you are equally interested in is whether this affects PACOM's operations or pending projects in any way; I know several of you have already reached out to ask whether we're all right.

First off, thank you.

Second, as it stands, this really doesn't affect PACOM's operations and we don't see that being the case moving forward, either. There have been no delays regarding vessels or logistics, so things are noisy but still ongoing at PACOM. If things change in this regard, we will definitely let you know--but that seems unlikely, at least with regards to this matter.

Again, to repeat, we're all right at PACOM HQ.

Overdue report from Frankfurt

In September (!) I mentioned that PACOM would be attending the Frankfurt Buchmesse as we have done for many years. This year, an influx of younger PACOM employees were in attendance at the fair, and they were kept busy visiting client booths and conversing with folks who stopped by. A healthy set of appointments was on the menu in Frankfurt (in addition to the apfelwein and hochsen) and I think we had a very productive time at Frankfurt, especially with the younger employees gaining valuable in-person experience and exposure to the printing world at large. The nature of Korea is that large events in our industry are rarely held here, so this opportunity was vital for the continued growth of PACOM and its employees.

To those of you who were in attendance and met us, we'd like to extend our warmest gratitude and hope to see you again soon! We will most likely be in attendance at the London and Bologna Book Fairs, so if you are planning to be there, do let us know!

Ongoing renovations

PACOM has just finished installing a state-of-the-art web press, as well as spreading out our various manufacturing lines into the new building. It's big.

We're also still sussing out the layout of the new building and juxtaposing pre-existing equipment between our now two buildings. It's complicated, but I have no doubt that all of it will result in better space usage and process efficiency.

That's all for this edition. May 2025 be a happy, healthy and fruitful year to all!