[Courtesy of Lotte Department Store]
Chinese consumers still favor South Korean beauty products, taking up nearly one-third of all cosmetics exported in the first quarter of this year, despite anti-Korean sentiment caused by the controversial deployment of a US missile shield on the Korean peninsula.
Total exports of South Korean cosmetics soared 41 percent on-year to a record high of 3.45 billion US dollars last year, including $1.24 billion to China, according to the Korea Customs Service (KCS).
Shares of cosmetics firms were once under heavy selling at home this year, reflecting concerns about China's retaliatory steps including a travel ban. But total exports of beauty products in the first quarter of this year rose 32 percent on-year to $935 million. First quarter cosmetics exports to China rose 26.7 percent from a year earlier to $337 million.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
