Suh Kyung-bae

Suh Kyung-bae is the Chairman and CEO of Amorepacific Group, South Korea's largest and most prestigious cosmetics company. Under his leadership, Amorepacific became the driving force behind the global "K-Beauty" phenomenon, with luxury brand Sulwhasoo, masstige hit Laneige, and accessible brands Innisfree and Etude reaching consumers across Asia, North America, and Europe. Suh inherited the company from his father, founder Suh Sung-whan, and transformed it from a domestic Korean champion into a global beauty contender. Amorepacific's peak market capitalization exceeded $30 billion during the height of the K-Beauty boom, but the company has faced significant challenges: China's domestic beauty brands gained market share at the expense of Korean imports, the COVID pandemic devastated duty-free and travel retail channels (critical for Asian beauty brands), and global competition intensified. Suh has responded by diversifying beyond China dependence, strengthening Western market presence, and investing in digital-first brand building. His key decisions involve geographic rebalancing (reducing China exposure while growing North America and Europe), brand portfolio management, digital commerce and social selling strategy, R&D investment in innovative formulations, and recovering the premium positioning of Sulwhasoo in a competitive luxury beauty market.