Hankook Sharp is a relatively young Korean stationer, established in 1989. Their specialty is lead for mechanical pencils, but they also produce woodcase pencils.
The Hankook Sharp and several other Korean pencils we’ll look at in the days ahead were very kindly provided to me by Kent. We’ll start with the regular office pencils, before moving on to the premium offerings.
A basic office pencil in yellow with gold-colored ferrule and pink-red eraser, the Hankook Sharp has very little text. It is marked with a logo and “Hankook Sharp HB”.
And one other marking that I almost sharpened away – the pencil is marked “China” in very fine print, close to the tip. The first sharpening eliminated this marking!
“Hankook” means “Korea” in the Korean language, so some might be curious about the pencil’s non-Korean origin.
The pencil is a very rounded hexagon – I don’t especially like the form factor, but others definitely do find the grip comfortable.
The wood appears very pale with little grain – probably basswood.
The real surprise is the lead, and this may reflect Hankook Sharp’s background as a lead manufacturer. The lead is very waxy and smooth for a cheap pencil – perhaps it is a polymer based compound.
I am definitely looking forward to trying other Korean pencils.