Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous studies on the history of masks have been published. However, dust respirators have not received significant attention. This article focuses on respirators and revisits the reality of industrial hygiene during the Park Chung Hee military regime. The history of respirators first indicates the direction of industrial hygiene policies. The introduction of respirator technology lagged behind gas mask technology for military purposes. Also, during the introduction of respirators, maintenance costs were considered more important than performance. Both suggest that, during this period, industrial hygiene policies were focused on economic growth rather than labor rights. Furthermore, the history of respirators highlights the challenges of the discrepancy between knowledge and practice within South Korea’s healthcare system, including industrial hygiene, due to limitations in infrastructure. At the time, all attempts to develop a dust respirator failed. Despite its seemingly straightforward nature, South Korea’s industrial production capability was not enough to produce and process the raw materials. In sum, the history of respirators serves as a window to illuminate the policy, technological context, and limitations within which contemporary South Korean industrial hygiene was situated.