Amore Pacific expands oriental medicine R&D

Amore Pacific will work on developing oriental medicine-based cosmetics with German and U.S. researchers.

Korea’s No. 1 cosmetics manufacturer said yesterday it signed an agreement to collaborate on making cosmetic products using natural materials at its research center in Yongin, Gyeonggi.

It will collaborate with Robert Huber, a Nobel laureate in chemistry from Germany’s Max-Planck Research Institute, and Dr. Lee Chang-yong of Cornell University.

Amore Pacific intends to secure world-class research capabilities for beans, ginseng and green tea, the three target raw materials for its future cosmetics, it said.

The company will look into how the three materials can further benefit people’s skin and develop new components for functional cosmetics.

Korea’s representative cosmetics brand said it wants to promote awareness of Asian culture and history that have been built up based on oriental medicine.

“Amore Pacific wants to respond actively to the current research trends in the industry, and we are committed to launching high-quality oriental medicine cosmetics,” said Kang Hak-hee, vice president at the company’s R&D center.

By Song Su-hyun [ssh@joongang.co.kr]