Hello. It’s nice to meet you all as you work to pursue and spread our own beauty around the world. I haven’t seen you in two months. How was your vacation? 

The recent Korean film Myeongryang , which tells the story of the Japanese invasion of Korea and the background of Admiral Yi Sun-shin, has become the biggest film of all time at the Korean box office, recording box office receipts of 17 million admissions. We all know that Admiral Yi Sun-shin distinguished himself in the naval battle with his brave spirit and leadership. But, someone who is less known, though his contributions on land were equal to those of Admiral Yi Sun-shin at sea, was “Seoae” (pen name) Ryu Seong-ryong, who was the Korean prime minister at the time. He is, so to speak, like Winston Churchill who protected the United Kingdom when it was alone and unaided during World War II. Admiral Yi Sun-shin was a great commander on the battlefield and Ryu Seong-ryong was the head of the administration who recognized the potential of Yi Sun-shin and recommended him for the post. This encounter between Yi Sun-shin and Ryu Seong-ryong did much to protect the country at that critical historical juncture.

In 1592, Japan invaded Korea following the King Seonjo’s rejection of the demand placed on it by Japan to leave Joseon Dynasty open for its advance on the Ming Dynasty. Ryu Seong-ryong, who served as the Jwauijeong (Second State Councillor) and Byeongjopanseo (the Minister of War) at the time, was appointed Yeongeuijeong (the prime minister of Joseon Dynasty) and the Four-Province Dochechalsa (Commander) responsible for state and military affairs. Soon after war broke out, King Seonjo tried to flee to Uiju, leaving Hanyang (the capital of Korea then) behind to seek the refuge offered by the Ming Dynasty. However, Ryu Seong-ryong implored the King to change his mind, arguing that, if the King were to abandon the country, the land would be no longer belong to Joseon Dynasty. He described to the King the story of Admiral Yi Sun-shin and how he had stubbornly resisted enemy attack, with only Hanyang, Pyeongyang and Busan being captured. Ryu Seong-ryong prevailed and the King relented from seeking asylum. If King Seonju had fled to the Ming Dynasty across the Amnok River, it would have completely changed the course of Korean history. 

As you know, war is not only fought with guns, swords and cannon balls. Historically, the biggest killer of troops have been disease and famine. In other words, securing a stable food and material supply is critical to the success of a military campaign. In the 16th Century, Joseon Dynasty was much weaker than Japan. The population of Joseon Dynasty was only about 4 million, but Japan had a population of almost 32 million. Economic power was calculated with rice production: to compare, Joseon Dynasty produced around 5 million bags of rice and collected 600,000 bags as tax, which would be valued at somewhere around 100 billion won today. Japan, on the other hand, was much more powerful, with a single lord collecting about 1 million bags of rice from his land alone. 

Nor could Joseon Dynasty hold a candle to Japan when it came to the size of its armed forces. The number of Japanese soldiers who landed at Busan was 140,000, but the number of Joseon Dynasty soldiers engaged on active service was less than 8,000, though it was recorded as 40,000 on the books. It would have seemed outrageous to fight a war on such an unequal basis of military might. And that’s not to mention the important matter of food and supplies. Given that there were 10,000 soldiers, 300 bags of rice were required per day, which means 9,000 bags per month and 100,000 bags per annum. It was not easy for Joseon Dynasty to feed and retain 10,000 soldiers. Plus, there were 45,000 soldiers sent from the Ming Dynasty. No matter how hard the country tightened its collective belt, it could not help but suffer from a shortage of materials and food, given that it required at least 400,000 bags of rice per annum. The same problem was faced with war horses: not enough feed. To supplement provisions for the army, Joseon Dynasty requisitioned food from the people or take food for the price of issuing a certificate of Yangban (the Korean gentry) called Gongmyeongcheob. Moreover, there was even the recruitment of monk soldiers who could procure food from Buddhist temples. To sum it up, when it came to procurement and administration, the Korean military at that time was substandard, verging on the disastrous. The situation was unchanged throughout the 7 years of the Japanese invasion of Korea. 

Japan conducted under-the-table negotiations with the Ming Dynasty to divide and conquer Joseon Dynasty. The Ming Dynasty suspected that Japan was secretly seeking to attack their country, just as Toyotomi Hideyoshi from Japan had entreated King Seonjo to let them do. The Ming Dynasty sent reinforcements to wage war against Japan on the Korean peninsula, rather than in China. This was because, after all, Japan would move on to target Liaodong province once Joseon fell. Manchuria is wide, which makes it much harder to defend than the narrow Korean peninsula. Moreover, the Ming Dynasty wanted to divide and conquer Joseon Dynasty through negotiations, rather than fighting against Japan. That was the stance of the Ming Dynasty.

Though Japan continued to declare its intention to attack the Ming Dynasty, its underlying intent was to seize the land south of the Daedong River in Joseon. This land was seen as a fitting reward for its commanders in thanks for the role they played during the Civil War. In any case, Japan divided its troops into two groups and sent them on two different routes. The vanguard was placed under the command of Konishi Yukinaga and occupied Hanyang on May 2, 1592. It marched north at an average pace of 20km per day. Interestingly, it stayed in Pyeongyang after conquering Pyeongyang Castle, rather than marching to Uiju, where King Seonjo was sheltered. There was a six-month lull in the war during which Japan carried out negotiations with the Ming Dynasty. This reprieve allowed Ryu Seong-ryong to crisscross the country and, ultimately, persuade the Ming Dynasty to abandon its scheme. Thanks to him, Joseon Dynasty was able to gain time to reorganize its army and send vital military supplies to its troops. With the help of the reinforcements sent from the Ming Dynasty and Admiral Yi Sun-shin blocking the supply route at sea, Joseon Dynasty was able to protect the Honam region of the Korean peninsula. 

It was in fact Ryu Seong-ryong who led the country in two different kinds of wars - the war to stem the divide-and-conquer tactics employed by Japan and the Ming Dynasty and the war to provide military supplies in order that the food grown across the country would be available to the army of Joseon Dynasty and Ming troops. Yet, Ryu Seong-ryong went back to his life in the countryside and never came back to Hanyang after having resigned his post on November 18, 1598 - the very day that Admiral Yi Sun-shin died. Afterwards, Ryu Seong-ryong wrote a book titled 'Jingbirok (懲毖錄)' so that the suffering inflicted by the Japanese invasion on Korea would not be forgot and to teach the lessons of that period to people in periods to come. Indeed, 'jingbi' means to take disciplinary action in order to avoid the source of possible troubles, which suggests identifying what has been done wrong in order to prepare for the things to come. He detailed in his book various aspects of the war, which had been fought over 7 years from 1592. Jingbirok was subsequently designated National Treasure No. 132. It portrays different sides of the war fought under the Japanese invasion of Joseon Dynasty. The two key lessons in this book are, first, not to blame anyone else but oneself and, second, to be strong. In other words, the book advises the reader to reflect upon oneself in order to change and grow strong. Ryu Seong-ryong emphasized 'Mangjeonpilwi (忘戰必危),’ which means that crisis creeps up in times of peace, when war has been long forgotten. He also advised 'Jeongryeonjeonil (精練專一),’ which is a 'training-first ideology,’ meaning that intense training can bring everyone together. In addition, he insisted on a 'Jeongbyeongilman (精兵一萬) system' in which 10,000 reserve soldiers can protect the country against enemy if they are thoroughly trained. It also includes the development of powerful weapons and cannons to help defend against the enemy. Ryu Seong-ryong reminds us that Joseon Dynasty ran into trouble because it had neglected the view of Japan targeting dynasties. He had advised diplomatic relations with the Yeojin Tribe in Manchuria to protect Korea, but the Joseon Royal Court had ignored him. The result was the Manchu invasion of Korea, which broke out 30 years thence. 

More than anything, Ryu Seong-ryong reminds us to be cautious not to be impatient or forget things too quickly. The Royal Court bitterly regretted its mistake of letting the Japanese army pass through the mountainous area Joryeong, an area of vital strategic importance. As Joryeong was effectively a gateway to the country through which the enemy could march toward Hanyang from Chungju, it should have concentrated its efforts on stopping the enemy in this area. However, it stationed troops beyond Joryeong due to a hasty decision made under pressure. This lack of preparation and haste at a remedy ultimately lost Joseon Dynasty the war. Ryu Seong-ryong emphasizes this kind of tragedy happens repeatedly because people forget the pain from the tragedy too easily. Though the dynasty was protected by the efforts of Admiral Yi Sun-shin at sea and Ryu Seong-ryong on land, it fell to the tragic Japan-Korea Treaty, signed 300 years later. This tragedy fell because it had failed to make thorough preparations for the future. It had ignored the teachings of Jingbirok.  

Dear Asian Beauty Creators, 

Let’s face our reality. For better or worse, the Korean population is aging. This phenomenon is seen even in our sales channels, whether in the door-to-door sales channels to our sales in retails and department stores. We must come up with effective countermeasures to deal with this social change and overcome the difficulties we face. There are other countries going through the same aging-society problem, but many companies in those countries are effectively coping with this social phenomenon. 

ARITAUM, ETUDE HOUSE and innisfree must enhance their retail power. They need to look back at whether the store catches customers’ eye, whether products are attractively displayed, whether their shops are well placed, and whether prepare the manual for shop operation and management. Our shops will go out further into the world. Let's suppose that a problem occurs with one of our shops. Sure, we could go and handle the problem ourselves if the shop is within easy distance. But, what if it's located far away, like in China, India, Brazil or Jakarta? We need a manual on shop operation and management to help us deal with this problem in an effective and prompt manner. Our research and development must grow with advances to deal with Bio Era. There is a proliferation of bio-medicines in the market today. The next step is bio-cosmetics. An aging society is not always bad. There must be a lot of things that we can do to help revitalize people. 

Just as Ryu Seong-ryong emphasized, we must not forget to train hard. Joseon Dynasty perished 300 years after Jinbirok was written precisely because there was no talent to save the dynasty. This clearly shows the lesson we must learn regarding the importance of nurturing and training outstanding individuals. We must implement an Omni-Channel fit for the digital age and keep pace with worldwide digital trends.   

Our Chinese business and tax-free business continue to enjoy a strong growth trend. Of course, it’d be great if we do great all the time. But, in business, results are never guaranteed. We must be patient and persistent. We must prepare ourselves. We should do with endurance. These are the lessons that Ryu Seong-ryong wanted to teach us 400 years ago as he wrote his book Jingbirok. Let's prepare ourselves for the future based on what we learned from the past. 

There are many different beauties around the world. They are beautiful because they are different. We're creating a 'New Beauty' that will fascinate everyone in the world with 'Asian Beauty,' the beauty of a whole new dimension that only we can give. Not all successful people are leaders. A true leader is someone who paves the way for others to succeed. I believe that you all will become a leader who changes the world into a more beautiful place. Let's remember the great leader Ryu Seong-ryong, who so valiantly protected and led the country 400 years ago, despite the many difficulties he faced in doing so. I hope that you become a person like him, that you distinguish yourself and make people excited as you create new beauty. Thank you.