Originally Posted By: andyd
I'd use it. S. Korea has a more modern steel industry than you can find here.
Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Korea != North Korea; not saying there is confusion in this post, but there has been in the past.
LG is Korean as is Samsung. No reason they can't make quality bearings too.
Having good foundries doesn't mean you can produce accurate ball bearings. Most businesses are using global supply chains these days, so having a good steel industry in Korea tells you nothing about 1) the geometric form of the actual bearings made there or 2) what kind of steel a given Korean bearing manufacturer might be using. Could be Korean bearing maker using Timken steel or Ovako steel.
And while there's no reason to logically assume Korea isn't capable of making high quality bearings, it's just as invalid to assume they are. Or that one could even generalize about Korean bearings.
Just as in China where both quality and junk are made, I suspect that one could find both junk and quality produced in Korea if one searched with that intent.
FWIW, I don't consider bearings a place to try and save money. An ABEC class 9 bearing is 1.2 MICRONS runout. Not just anybody can do that.