Dear CJ family, 2026, the new year is here.
At this moment, standing at a new starting line, I extend my sincere gratitude to all executives and employees who have quietly done their very best in their respective roles over the past year.
Recently, we often hear phrases like, ‘an era of unpredictability’ and, ‘a time when existing solutions
no longer work.’ This reflects how the business environment we face is operating in ways completely different from the past.
Digital technologies centered around AI are evolving at breakneck speed, and have established themselves as the top priority for competitiveness for both nations and companies. Meanwhile, the global trade environment, which was moving toward a single market under the free trade order, is undergoing major changes, with markets becoming fragmented by country and region based on differing interests. Furthermore, governments worldwide are competitively supporting their domestic industries and technologies.
Without a deep understanding of these changes in the surrounding environment, business strategies prepared within the logic of the past can become obsolete in an instant. Amidst this period of transition, though our group achieved some success in various businesses over the past year, overall, we fell short of our expectations, leaving us with a sense of disappointment.
There were limits to relying solely on temporary measures aimed at improving short-term performance, and this year confirmed that greater preparation is needed to strengthen mid-to-long-term competitiveness and build a foundation for future growth.
However, this difficulty by no means signifies CJ’s limitations. Rather, it signals that amid growing uncertainty and the limitations of existing success models, the necessity and opportunity for us to leap forward again has become even clearer.
Consumers around the world today are embracing K-lifestyles, such as K-food, K-content, and K-beauty, at an unprecedented pace. In other words, new market opportunities are opening across nearly all of our group’s business areas, including food, logistics, beauty, and content.
This trend is not a temporary fad, but the formation of a new global consumer culture, and at its center lie the assets and experience CJ has built over the past 20 years while leading the globalization of the Korean Wave.
While changes in the business environment are far from easy, opportunities are open more widely than ever before. At this moment, when uncertainty and opportunity coexist, it is a critical time for us to declare another leap forward.
In order to turn these opportunities into tangible growth at this critical juncture, I ask all executives and employees to focus on the following three points.
First, continuously create small successes and spread them throughout the organization to expand organizational alignment.
Change does not begin with grand strategies, but with small successes in the field. By consistently creating successes that may seem small but are meaningful within each company and each department, and by quickly sharing and spreading those small wins, we can transform the organization out to its very edges and prepare for growth in the future. Only organizations where small successes are repeated can move forward steadily, even in times of crisis.
Second, please accelerate execution to lead the K-trend market.
Rapid execution is our competitive edge. Many companies at home and abroad are now actively moving to target markets by leveraging K-trends. We do not have as much time as we might think. Now, ‘who moves first’ will determine the winner in the future market. Speed is becoming ever more critical across all areas of business, including decision-making, product development, global expansion, and forming partnerships. We are in an era where speed creates market share, and speed becomes the core condition for growth.
Third, set bold goals and challenge yourselves fearlessly.
Low goals lead us to complacency and hinder organizational change. The moment we set ambitious goals, the organization begins to think and act in new ways and starts to discover entirely different paths to growth. If we avoid challenges out of fear of failure, the door to growth will close as well.
I hope this will be a year in which our top talent who are unafraid of failure set higher goals, continue to challenge themselves, and forge our group’s future with their own hands.
Dear members of the CJ family, we stand at a make-or-break moment that will determine our group’s future.
Amidst today’s rapidly changing business environment, the direction we choose will determine whether we rise as a leading global lifestyle company or fade into obscurity without a trace.
Based on our understanding of the rapidly changing business environment, we will proactively leverage domestic and international governmental policies and actively introduce AI-driven digital technologies into our business operations to accelerate the execution of these key initiatives.
I ask that, starting this year, you act even more boldly and swiftly to bring the values our group seeks to deliver—health, happiness and convenience—to people around the world.
Dear members of the CJ family, we possess the DNA to never stop challenging ourselves, even in times of crisis.
That spirit has made our group a central player in the Korean Wave and elevated us to a distinctive position in the global market.
2026 must be the year CJ prepares for and executes another leap forward. In the midst of change, I hope we become a company that clearly sees opportunities and turns those opportunities into reality faster than anyone else.
In the new year, to all executives and employees, as well as their families, who continue to devote themselves to the growth of CJ Group, I wish you abundant health and happiness.
Happy New Year.
Thank you.
