Olive Young kicks off largest-ever K-beauty festival in Seoul
CJ Olive Young kicked off its largest-ever beauty and wellness festival, 2025 Olive Young Festa, with a media event on Wednesday at Nodeul Island in Yongsan-gu, Seoul.
Held outdoors at a site along the Han River spanning 11,570 square meters, the attendance for this year is expected to reach 30,000 visitors, nearly double that of previous years.
'This year's Festa expands beyond award-winning names to highlight rising and indie brands, helping more promising players connect with customers,' said Lee Eun-jeong, head of Olive Young's Brand Creative Center.
'We've brought together our know-how since 2019 to create a differentiated experience that promotes K-beauty as a cultural movement. It's both a festival for our 16 million Olive Members and a milestone for K-beauty's present and future.'
Themed 'Treasure Island,' the five-day festival invites visitors to discover the unique strengths of each participating brand through an immersive, interactive experience. A record 108 beauty and health brands are featured across 84 booths, offering visitors hands-on access to both bestsellers and emerging names in Korean beauty.
The festival is organized into five main zones, Skincare, Makeup, Personal Care, Healthy Lifestyle and Luxe Edit, covering a wide range of categories from cosmetics to wellness.
At daily seminar sessions titled 'Beauty & Health Deep Dive,' Olive Young partner brands engage directly with the audience to offer in-depth product insights and share brand stories.
More than just a public event, the Festa also serves as a networking and business platform for the K-beauty industry. Key stakeholders are invited to foster domestic and global market connections, including small and medium-sized brands, manufacturers, consumers and international buyers.
A special co-growth program, Future Connect, will also run during the festival, where some 200 brand representatives will attend sessions that cover export logistics, compliance with international regulations, and analysis of global K-beauty trends.
Olive Young has also invited around 400 representatives from major global retail platforms, including those from the US, Japan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, offering them firsthand experience of K-beauty innovation and potential partnerships.
'Since its launch in 2019 with just 50 brands, Olive Young Festa has more than doubled in size and continues to evolve with customers,' CJ Olive Young Communication Officer Lee Sang-ju said at the event.
'The Festa reflects our commitment to supporting Korean beauty brands as they grow at home and expand globally.'
hykim@heraldcorp.com
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Korea Herald
an hour ago
- Korea Herald
Lotte sets sights on global retail future at NRF Big Show
Lotte Shopping Vice Chair Kim Sang-hyun highlighted the group's global strategy and innovation efforts at NRF Big Show APAC 2025, held in Singapore from Tuesday to Thursday. The event, hosted by the National Retail Federation, a US-based retail trade association, was held for the first time in the Asia-Pacific region and drew 10,000 retail leaders, including Amazon. During a session titled 'Retail Transformation, The Lotte Story,' Kim spoke with Vipul Chawla, CEO of Singapore's FairPrice Group, about Lotte's evolving approach to customer-centered retail and digital transformation. Kim, who heads the Korean firm's retail division, introduced Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi as a leading example of innovative customer experience. The mall, which opened in 2023, recorded over 200 billion won ($147 million) in cumulative sales within nine months and 10 million visitors within 354 days. He described it as a platform that goes beyond retail, connecting customers with culture and lifestyle. Addressing structural challenges in Korea, such as economic uncertainty and an aging population, Kim explained how Lotte is expanding into global markets and utilizing artificial intelligence-driven solutions. A key project includes the construction of an AI-powered customer fulfillment center in Busan, in partnership with Ocado, to enhance hyperpersonalized recommendations and logistics automation. Kim also introduced Lotte Mart Express, recently launched inside FairPrice's VivoCity location, as a case of successful collaboration. Looking to the next three to five years, Kim stressed the importance of creating value in customers' time and experience. 'Lotte will make a strong commitment toward global competitiveness through customer-centric and tech-driven innovation,' Kim said.
Korea Herald
3 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Korea inks $18b nuclear export deal with Czech Republic
South Korea secures its first nuclear export in 16 years since Barakah project in UAE South Korea has clinched a landmark $18 billion contract with the Czech state utility to build new nuclear reactors in the Czech Republic, following a court decision to lift an injunction that had temporarily blocked the signing. This is Korea's second-ever nuclear export project, following the Barakah plant in the United Arab Emirates in 2009. Czech Prime Minister Petra Fiala announced the closing of the deal in a nationally televised press conference Wednesday, just hours after the Czech Supreme Administrative Court lifted the injunction filed by EDF, a French bidder that lost the tender. "We have removed all doubts and legal obstacles that prevented the nuclear power plant project from being launched," Fiala said during the conference. The signing took place digitally between Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Elektrarna Dukovany II (EDU II), a subsidiary of the Czech state-run utility in charge of operating the nuclear plants in Dukovany. Under the agreement, KHNP will build two 1,000 megawatt APR-1000 reactors — Dukovany Units 5 and 6 — with completion targeted for 2036 and 2037, respectively. "The deal is a testament to the technological excellence and global reliability of Korea's nuclear industry," KHNP CEO Whang Joo-ho said. "KHNP will carry out the project with the highest safety and quality standards, strengthening Korea's competitiveness in the global nuclear energy market." The deal marks a symbolic milestone for Korea, which once imported European nuclear technologies, but is now exporting its own, KHNP said. Korea adopted France's Framatome reactor for its Hanul 1 and 2 units in 1982. KHNP will serve as the lead EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contractor and oversee the full scope of the project while working with a consortium of top Korean firms. Kepco E&C will be in charge of design and engineering, and Doosan Enerbility will be responsible for equipment supply and construction. Daewoo E&C will lead the structural construction, while Kepco NF and Kepco KPS will each take on nuclear fuel supply and commissioning and maintenance. KHNP said it plans to establish an onsite project office near the Dukovany plant to facilitate early-stage work, such as permitting, site surveys and document management. The energy firm said it would hold two briefing sessions this year outlining the qualification requirements and technical standards for Korean suppliers interested in participating in the Czech project. KHNP had originally been set to sign the deal on May 7, after being named preferred bidder over France's EDF and US-based Westinghouse in July 2024. The signing was postponed, however, when a Czech court accepted a last-minute injunction filed by EDF, which claimed irregularities in the bidding process. Despite the delay, both sides continued preparations. KHNP and EDU II appealed the ruling, and the higher court said Wednesday it found the injunction's claims unsubstantiated. The Czech government also preapproved the contract between CEZ and KHNP, allowing the deal to proceed immediately if the injunction was lifted. The Dukovany project is part of the Czech Republic's largest infrastructure initiative for long-term energy security and decarbonization goals. With the Czech government expected to decide within the next five years on expanding the Temelin nuclear site, KHNP remains eligible to negotiate additional contracts for the potential new units.
Korea Herald
3 hours ago
- Korea Herald
Nuclear boom propels Doosan to 7th among Korea's largest chaebol groups
Doosan Enerbility eyes global expansion as US, Europe reignite nuclear ambitions Doosan Group, a Korean power generation-to-heavy equipment conglomerate, has shaken up the leaderboard of the country's largest conglomerates as its listed companies, namely Doosan Enerbility, saw their stock prices surge in the first five months of this year on the back of the United States doubling down on nuclear energy. According to the Korea Exchange, the combined market capitalization of Doosan Group's seven listed companies, including Doosan Bobcat, Doosan Enerbility, Doosan Fuel Cell and Doosan Robotics, stood at approximately 47.9 trillion won ($35.2 billion) as of 2:40 p.m. on Thursday. With this, Doosan has found itself sitting in the seventh place on the list of the biggest conglomerates in Korea, led by Samsung, SK, Hyundai Motor and LG. Doosan, which was outside the top 10 standings at the end of last year, saw its rankings go up to the 10th place in December and continued to make its way up the ladder to overtake other conglomerates such as Posco, Kakao and Celltrion. Doosan Enerbility, a power generation equipment and construction firm, played a pivotal role in shooting up the conglomerate's market capitalization. The stock price of Doosan Enerbility soared to reach 45,650 won per share during intraday trading on Thursday, a whopping 160 percent jump from the 17,550 won per share at the end of last year. As Doosan Enerbility's Kospi standings leaped to as high as the 13th last month from the 37th spot at the end of 2024, it accounted for some 80 percent of Doosan Group's 19-trillion-won market cap growth during that period. Doosan Enerbility's surging stock price is now expected to gain even more, as US President Donald Trump signed a series of executive orders to reestablish America as the global leader in nuclear energy last week after repeatedly pledging to revive the country's nuclear energy sector. As the US aims to increase the country's nuclear energy capacity from 100 gigawatt today to 400 GW by 2050 and have 10 new large nuclear reactors with complete designs under construction by 2030, Doosan Enerbility finds itself in a favorable business environment based on its experiences in building nuclear reactors and plants. Hur Min-ho, an analyst at Daishin Securities, noted in a recent report that the US executive orders 'will speed up the entrance' of Korean nuclear power firms in the US, the largest nuclear power plant market in the world. The US is not the only market Doosan Enerbility has set its eyes on. It is also a key member of Korea's consortium led by state-run Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power and Korea Electric Power Corp, which is only a few steps away from finalizing a $18 billion nuclear power project with the Czech Republic due to a court injunction blocking the contract signing. '(Doosan Enerbility) has not only supplied key equipment for (the Korean consortium's) Czech project but also delivered nuclear reactors and steam generators to Westinghouse's US- and China-bound AP1000 and is in discussions for supplying equipment to Westinghouse's order for three power plant projects in Poland and two power plant projects in Bulgaria,' said Hur. Doosan Enerbility is also pinning hopes on Kepco's power plant export talks with Vietnam, Saudi Arabia and Turkey along with other countries. Yang Il-woo, an analyst at Samsung Securities, said the International Energy Agency and International Atomic Energy Agency project forecast that the global energy production from nuclear power plants will triple by 2030 with the active implementation of innovative technologies such as small modular reactors. "European countries such as Denmark, Italy and Spain have become favorable toward nuclear power plants. … India plans to triple its nuclear power plant capacity by 2032 while Egypt and Turkey are looking to build new nuclear power plants,' said Yang. 'In terms of nuclear power plants as investment factors, Doosan Enerbility's price-to-earnings ratio will be high.'
