“There are about 30 megalopolises with more than 10 million population in the world, and half of them are in Asia. It is natural that we seek to anchor at those places, reaching out to women who are open-minded and actively practicing beauty regimes with cosmetic products,” Suh said at a news conference to mark the 70th anniversary of the company.
 
The company will first expand to Vietnam and India and other Asian countries, then to Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and finally tap South America. The first Dubai store is scheduled to open next year followed by another in South America in 2017. Iran, which has recently become accessible businesswise thanks to its thawing relations with the U.S., is also a sought-after market.

“We will first take our five ‘global champion brands’ -- Sulwhasoo, Laneige, Mamonde, Innisfree and Etude -- and later push others. We have already surveyed women of 15 major cities in Asia and developed solutions for their skin types, climate and others. We are fully ready to cope with their needs,” Suh said.

The chairman, who is credited with nurturing the pomade maker-turned-cosmetics and lifestyle goods producer into a major international player since taking office in 1997, seemed unperturbed by the recent global economic slowdown affected by the weaker yuan currency even though China is AmorePacific’s largest market.

“There are about 200 million people wearing makeup in China and I assume those with a potential to wear makeup would be around 500 million. There might be a minor slump but in the bigger picture we will do well,” he said.

The company is planning to reinforce its duty-free network in China to stabilize sales. The duty-free sector accounted for 41 percent of the company’s sales last year.

The only market Suh has reservations about is Europe. The company’s French perfumery Annick Goutal, which was merged with the company in 2011, marked 3.1 billion won in losses last year in France and the company has since remained coy about advancing into the European market.

“I have great respect for the French market, the birthplace of the modern beauty products, but the market is stale, growing by only 1 percent a year,” Suh said. “We are still on the learning curve when it comes to Europe,” he said.

Suh was more inclined to North Korea, where his father and AmorePacific founder Suh Sung-hwan was born. “I always pay attention to North Korea, whether I watch it from South Korea or China. I think the two Koreas will reunite one day, and though there isn’t much we can do as of now, I am willing to do anything when the right time comes,” he said.

The company is now gearing up to inherit the success of cushion foundation with other products. “Cushion foundation was a ‘sleeper hit’... and we are sparing a lot for future products. You wait and see,” he said.

The only thing that will remain unchanged is the spirit, Suh said as explaining 70 years of the company’s history: When Suh Sung-hwan founded AmorePacific in 1945, he was heavily inspired by his mother Yun Dok-jeong, who produced pomade and cream with camellia oil.

“What we will conserve, no matter how large a company we become, is the heart of serving the best quality products, just like my grandmother used to sort out the best camelia seeds in her own kitchen. That will go on for another 100 years,” Suh said.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)