CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun (second from left, front row) tours the CJ Olive Young Festa during his visit to KCON LA 2026. [CJ Group]
CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun (second from left, front row) tours the CJ Olive Young Festa during his visit to KCON LA 2026. [CJ Group]

CJ Group Chairman Lee Jae-hyun visited KCON LA 2026 and the CJ Olive Young Festa in Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday (local time).

At the events, Lee said CJ launched its cultural businesses "with the conviction that culture is the industry of the future," and called on the company to advance as a "global K-lifestyle leader that fills the everyday lives of people around the world with content, food and cosmetics."

The visit was Lee's first return to the United States in three months, following a May trip in which he visited the first CJ Olive Young store in the US and CJ CheilJedang's food Americas subsidiary in Minnesota.

On Friday, Lee toured the CJ Olive Young Festa, stopping at K-beauty brand booths and key experience zones including "Skin Scan," a skin-diagnosis service. The Olive Young Festa, which had previously been held only in South Korea, made its US debut at the event.

Lee also visited the Bibigo K-food brand booth operated by CJ CheilJedang, where he sampled the newly launched Bibigo Kimchi Noodle and said it needed more "kick."

"Kick" refers to the decisive element that brings out a food's flavor or a product's point of difference.

At the Mnet Plus booth — CJ ENM's global K-pop content platform — Lee urged the team to expand its local user base, saying American K-pop fans "must be made to use Mnet Plus without exception."

On Saturday, Lee attended K-pop performances at the concert venue alongside CJ Group Vice Chairwoman Lee Mi-kyung and CJ ENM Brand Strategy Division head Lee Gyeong-hu.

The group also toured the "K-Collection" booth, set up to support South Korean small and medium-sized enterprises expanding into overseas markets.

Lee has previously stated his ambition to have "people around the world watching two to three Korean films a year, eating Korean food once or twice a month, watching one to two Korean dramas a week, and listening to one to two Korean songs a day."

In line with that vision, CJ has steadily expanded its cultural footprint since entering the business in earnest in 1995 with an investment in US film studio DreamWorks, later broadening into film, music and broadcasting.

More recently, the group has focused on channeling the global interest in Korean culture — built through K-pop and drama series — into consumer goods businesses such as food and cosmetics.

At this year's KCON LA, CJ Olive Young served as title sponsor, reinforcing the event's K-beauty content.

"The blueprint Lee envisions for the next 30 years is not just about the KCON experience, but about accelerating the spread of K-food, beauty and content so they become part of American consumers' daily lives," a CJ Group official said.


gil@heraldcorp.com