Metal Type Printing

[Anchor Lead]

It’s well known among historians here that Korea developed the world's first metal printing types. But the technology has nearly disappeared with the introduction of computer printing. Old masters have teamed up to bring metal printing back to life. Here is the story.

[Pkg]

Text is created in the hands of a letter founder with 55 years of experience. These are printing types made with molten lead.

[Soundbite] Jeong Heung-taek(Letter Founder) : "This machine is 90 years old. It existed from the time I was born."

A staggering 32 million lead types have been made in this manner. A template is assembled by selecting each appropriate letter. The entire process of printing a book is conducted in the old-fashioned way. It is not especially splendid, but there is an appeal in the tidiness. As this method involves pressing lead type against paper, ink permeates deep into the paper so that it doesn't fade easily.

[Soundbite] Kim Jin-soo(Typesetter) : "Because of the applied pressure, ink permeates inside. That's why it's said to persist for 100 years."

Letterpress print shops disappeared in the 1980s with the spread of computer printing, but now they have re-emerged. Abandoned old machines have been brought back, and elderly artisans have assembled.

[Soundbite] Kim Jae-beom(Executive, Letterpress Museum) : "Korea is the country in which metal printing types originated. Lead types boast a great analogue charm that cannot be mimicked by computer printing."

Letterpress printing, once dismissed as an outdated technology, is making a comeback with the profound appeal of its old-fashioned charm.