On May 28, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Koo Yun Cheol chaired a meeting with K-beauty tech companies at the Kolmar Korea Integrated Technology Institute, attended by officials from relevant ministries, including the Minister of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, as well as representatives of major domestic beauty companies and innovative startups.
Despite external uncertainties, the Korean economy has continued to see an expansion in growth momentum, recording 1.7 percent growth in the first quarter of this year and becoming the world’s fifth-largest exporter. In particular, K-beauty has emerged as a new driver of Korea’s exports, posting a record-high USD 3.1 billion in exports in the first quarter of this year. Building on last year’s achievement of becoming the world’s second-largest exporter of cosmetics, surpassing the United States, the sector has continued to maintain strong growth momentum.
DPM Koo noted that K-beauty is rapidly evolving into an AI-driven beauty tech industry, highlighting Korea’s outstanding manufacturing and production capabilities, a dynamic industrial ecosystem comprised of approximately 30,000 responsible cosmetics distributors, and world-class technological competitiveness demonstrated by winning the CES Best Innovation Award for two consecutive years.
Companies participating in the meeting proposed a range of measures to help K-beauty advance into a high value-added beauty tech industry based on the strengths of its industrial ecosystem. Their proposals included clarifying regulations related to emerging beauty tech industries, establishing dedicated beauty tech funds and supporting manufacturing infrastructure such as smart factories, providing assistance for overseas certification and exports, and building an AI-based skin data bank.
The government plans to actively foster K-beauty as a key growth driver of the hyper-innovation economy so that it can become the world’s leading product shaping global beauty trends. To this end, efforts will be made to expand R&D investment aimed at enhancing high value-added production, build a beauty tech industrial ecosystem, and establish global hubs for K-beauty tourism and exports.
DPM Koo emphasized that “K-beauty is evolving beyond the cosmetics industry into a future strategic industry that integrates AI, data, and devices,” adding that “the government and private sector will work together to usher in a new era of K-beauty created by Korea and embraced by the world.”
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