The Kim Jae-hyun Department Store was the first modern department store in Korea selling luxury goods. In those days, the Kim Jae-hyun department store was the hottest place for high-end customers and any merchant in Gaeseong wished to have their goods sold there. When Changseong-dang products made it through wholesale dealers, it was like a dream come true. The products sold at the department store meant that their quality was good enough to stand competition.

One day, his mother Yun Dok-jeong ordered Suh Sung-whan to sell products directly to customers at the department store. Overwhelmed by the fancy atmosphere of the department store, its high-quality products with sensuous packaging and alluring displays, Suh Sung-whan eagerly searched for ways to sell his products.

Finally, he managed to open a counter at the Kim Jae-hyun Department Store. He proved his mother was right – Quality management is always the key to business success. On top of that, combination of his 'Effort' and 'Talent' helped him achieve a satisfying result. Back then, managing his business every day and feeling the sense of great satisfaction that came from a rewarding result were the biggest joy for Suh, Sung-whan.

Akagami. That's what people called the draft notice from the Japanese colonial government delivered to young Korean men from 1944 till the liberation of Korea in 1945. It means 'red slip' in English, so named because the draft notice was printed in a red piece of paper. Upon this red invitation, young Korean men were conscripted to fight for the Japanese army.

In January 1945, Suh Sung-whan was among a group of young men conscripted for the war. Fighting against the fear of death every day in the middle of battlefield, his dream of returning home and making business prosper seemed to be a far distant dream in the face of the harsh reality.

Suh, Sung-whan was sent to serve the Imperial Japanese army at the battalion located in Northern Manchuria. He and his peers were forced to undertake harsh military training during frigid winter days, risking their life in the battlefield that seemed to never end. Then, when their long-held hope was about to fade, they heard Japan had surrendered.

Suh Sung-whan was discharged in Beijing, China, becoming a free man on September 5, 1945. The fact that the foundation day of AMOREPACIFIC is September 5 shows how much he longed for freedom and going back home.

He stayed in Beijing for a while instead of returning home immediately to save enough money to go back home. One of his ideas to make money was doing business in China. He sold some of the rice he had received for his military service to buy dye and dyed some worn-out military uniforms in hope to sell them at a much higher price. This was how he made seed money to start a business in his hometown.

While he was in China, one day he happened to visit a big market named Dashilar, located at the south part of the Forbidden City. He was fascinated at the spectacle of Chinese merchants selling all kinds of goods. It seemed to have everything the world could offer. For Suh Sung-whan, after such a long period of difficulty, being an entrepreneur creating new markets was like entering a new world.

Life is very much a web of one's own weaving. No single moment in life is worthless.

On February 21, 1946, Suh Sung-whan arrived at Incheon Port and could put the military behind him.

* This column is extracted from the critical biography of the founder Cosmetics would still be my purpose, even in another life.