JDX golfwear owner Shinhan Korea filed for court receivership — COVID boom was a mirage

Shinhan Korea operated the golfwear brand JDX, a mid-tier label sold through department stores and pro shops across South Korea. The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a golf boom in Korea as consumers took up the sport in large numbers, and Shinhan Korea rode the wave: revenue rose from 86.6 billion won in 2021 to 91.0 billion by 2023.

But the profits that looked sustainable were an artefact of the pandemic. Operating profit collapsed from 6.6 billion won in 2022 to just 1.9 billion in 2023, and the business swung to a loss in 2024. The company had also invested heavily in a UFC Sports license business launched in 2021, opening stores at major department stores including Lotte, Shinsegae, and Starfield. When the endemic phase arrived in 2023 and the golf boom faded, both revenue growth and profitability evaporated.

Shinhan Korea filed for corporate rehabilitation with the Seoul Bankruptcy Court on March 7, 2025. The first hearing before Rehabilitation Division 14 was scheduled for March 17, 2025. The case marked the beginning of a shakeout among small and mid-sized Korean golfwear brands as the post-pandemic market normalised.