in-cosmetics Korea and its media partner Beautynury conducted a joint written interview with Sang-hoon Han, Head of R&D Unit at AmorePacific.

1. AmorePacific, a keen champion of Asian beauty, took the 16^th spot in the Forbes 2017 Global 100. What is the key to keeping tradition and innovation together? When you develop new products, what inspires you the most and how do you turn your inspiration into action?

Our founder believed that we must gain advantage in science and technology to become a global leader. The belief has made us what we are today. Over the past 7 decades, we have created innovative products including cushion compact, sleeping mask and boosting essence on the basis of Asian wisdom about nature and people along with our deep understanding of natural ingredients, state-of-the-art technology and ingenious ideas that notice trends. These factors enabled us to realize our unique value not only in Asia but also in North America and Europe.

We, at AmorePacific, believe that the solution to all problems lies within customers. Therefore, we try to get inspired by “strong customer experience,” challenge constantly and continue research and development in order to develop products meeting customers’ needs. We always study what our customers want and strive to provide a new experience based on continuous communication with customers.

2. AmorePacific brands seem to demonstrate how much your company values the “healthy” and “natural” beauty. In sourcing cosmetic ingredients and raw materials and developing new products, what do you have in mind other than “health” and “nature”?

When we look at materials for product development, we consider if they have certain efficacy. And we always bear in mind skin safety of cosmetic ingredients and raw materials, customer reliability, sustainability of product development and environmental impacts of our products. We are going to make further efforts to find differentiated ingredients and raw materials and accomplish technological innovation in a sustainable way to create more reliable products.

In addition, we will continue to fulfill our responsibility as a corporate citizen for advancing the “Sustainable Development Goals” and becoming a company beloved by customers all around the world.

3. AmorePacific is entering a new era in Yongsan. What new technology can we expect to see from your research and development in 2018 and in the near future? What challenges are you facing at home and overseas in developing such a technology?

AmorePacific intends to make a new leap forward through development of new bio and materials technologies, a variety of future innovative technologies and technological convergence. We are going to solidify our “brand singularity” based on in-depth customer research and analysis and make product development more proactive and agile through collaboration among departments.

Furthermore, we will strive for new initiatives and innovative research to present our customers a whole new experience and provide differentiated and personalized solutions for them. We will also work hard to spread the value of a new global beauty to customers across the world through our research on global differences in skin characteristics and customization of research.

4. How can beauty make bigger changes to the world in the future? And what do you think is the most critical for overall advancement of cosmetic R&D projects in Korea? Where can we find the potential of development in the future?

With our founding philosophy of “contribution to humanity with beauty and health” in mind, AmorePacific has devoted to a principle of getting customer recognition only by technology and quality. To that end, we have made continuous efforts to take the quality of our research and development to a world-class level. Now, we are starting a new challenge to create innovative products that can move customers’ heart not those that are just equipped with excellent technology.

As AmorePacific did for “cushion compact” that triggered a burst of innovation in the global make-up market, “boosting essence” that created a new category of skin care and “sleeping mask,” we are going to try to change the beauty culture of the world and make a more beautiful world with our unique beauty. Through diverse efforts like these, we will keep going on our beautiful voyage towards a Great Brand Company.