A year after the armistice was declared, Suh returned to Seoul and settled down in Huam-dong, Youngsan-gu. When he arrived at Youngsan, the place was mostly war-ravaged and its heartland was taken by the U.S military forces. While looking around the Yongsan district, he made a self-promising resolution in his mind. "I will set foundation here where I will build my business and my life".

His business went well, but it made his wife struggle with more workload. She had to do the same amount of work as other female workers, while she was also in charge of housekeeping and preparing each meal for all the workers. Food always carried the smell of cosmetics because her house was not just a home for her family but also a manufacturing site for cosmetics. Everyone joked about the fragrant meal and laughed about it, but every meal that was put on the table was the outcome of her hard work.

Suh Sung-whan has always admired women's gentle, strong heart ever since he was young. His mother was very energetic and strong, his wife was wise and diligent and the female employees who worked at his factory were also so naively hard-working. They were all strong women who never gave up no matter what tribulations they met and lived their life to the fullest they could. Working with those women, Suh grew love and respect for them.

When his business came to growth, Suh Sung-whan could tell his business had restrictions without the help of a professional. That's how Koo Yong-seop joined the company. He majored in applied chemistry at Tokyo Tech High School of Science and Technology (now Tokyo Institute of Technology). After he joined, Suh opened a research lab in 1954. Although its start was humble as it was a small laboratory renovated from the restroom of the Huam-dong factory, it was the first cosmetic laboratory in Korea at that time.

Many products were launched after the laboratory was set up. The ABC No.100 Cream made as big a hit in the market as the ABC Pomade. The upgraded lineup of ABC brand accelerated the business growth.

Then in August, Suh Sung-whan relocated the head office and factory to Hangan-ro 2-ga, Yongsan-gu, Seoul (where the HQ building is situated today). Following this relocation, Taepyeongyang achieved both qualitative and quantitative growth

Suh Sung-whan kept his mind open to expert advice. Because Suh was more of a businessman than an R&D expert, he always sought advices from researchers and listened carefully to what they told him. In this way, the researchers also trusted and followed Suh.

Suh was well aware of how important it is to secure talented manpower for his business. So, he sent Koo Young-seop to Germany to study and supported Koo's family in Seoul while he was in overseas.

He also took Koo's advice to adopt Air Spun power machine and launched ABC Powder to the market. ABC Powder was made by a milling machine capable of making the world's finest and softest powder and made a big hit as soon as it was out in the market.

Suh Sung-whan however thought that it wasn't as good as Coty Powder made by what was then the world's leading brand, Coty. This added fuel to the fire of his challenging spirit. All he wanted to do was to make the world's best beauty company. So, he kicked off the construction of a large plant with modern facilities to make his dream come true.

On November 20, 1962, Yeongdeungpo Plant was completed. It was a large-scale plant fully equipped with automated facilities that were quite rare at the time. That was one of the dreams Suh envisioned while he was touring the Coty factory in France. He was thrilled as if he was given two wings to take flight into the sky or a mother ship to set sail to the distant oceans.

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