CJ Group continues to expand K-culture worldwide, strengthening key partnerships with global business players
CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun has concluded a year of on-site global management tours, covering major strategic hubs across Asia, the U.S., Europe and the Middle East.
Beginning in Japan in April, the tour continued throughout the year in the U.S., the UK, and the UAE with the purpose of connecting the global K-wave phenomenon to CJ’s future growth engine and to personally assess the company’s worldwide growth strategy on the ground.
Throughout the year’s on-site visits, Lee emphasized the importance of seizing the current momentum of the Korean Wave and expanding into new global frontiers.
Japan: ‘Leveraging the K-Wave, a Pivotal Opportunity for Global Expansion’
Lee chose Japan as the first destination for his global on-site management tours this year. In April, he spent three days in Tokyo reviewing the performance of the CJ Japan headquarters and meeting with key figures across the entertainment, retail and finance industries including Sasaki Takashi, Chairman of TBS Holdings; Masahiro Okafuji, Chairman of ITOCHU Corporation; and Seiji Imai, Chairman of Mizuho Financial Group, to explore further opportunities to expand CJ’s global business.
What particularly caught Lee’s attention in Japan was the qualitative shift in how Hallyu is showing up in everyday consumer life among local Gen Z and millennial consumers. What once spread primarily through K-pop and K-content has now evolved into a broader lifestyle ecosystem encompassing food, beauty and fashion. Localization strategies built on strong local partnerships have emerged as a new global growth engine for Korean companies.
“The renewed popularity of the Korean wave, or Hallyu, in Japan is not just a fad, but a critical opportunity to take K-culture to the next level,” Lee emphasized. “CJ businesses in Japan, such as bibigo, should be prepared to take hold of this opportunity.” He went on to stress, “We must accelerate localization and global infrastructure construction to increase competitiveness and position ourselves as a global leading company.”
In Japan, CJ operates across a wide range of sectors, including food, entertainment and beauty. CJ Foods is actively growing its portfolio of convenience foods such as bibigo Mandu and bibigo Gimbap, while CJ ENM has successfully achieved “K-pop localization” through LAPONE Entertainment, a joint venture established in 2019 that launched popular acts such as JO1 and INI. CJ Olive Young also designated Japan as a priority market last year and established a local subsidiary.
US: Joining the Korea-US Summit Economic Delegation to Drive the Spread of K-Culture
Lee visited the U.S. last August as a member of the economic delegation accompanying the Korea-US summit. Widely recognized as a leading force behind the expansion of K-culture in the U.S., CJ was the only K-content company represented among the participants. The diplomatic visit reaffirmed CJ’s standing as a company representing K-culture on the global stage.
CJ has positioned the U.S. as a core hub for its global operations, steadily expanding its food, content and logistics businesses in the region. Since opening its LA office in 1978, CJ has developed a broad business footprint through its affiliates, including CJ Foods, CJ BIO, CJ Logistics, CJ Foodville, CJ ENM and CJ Freshway. Cumulative investment in the U.S. has reached 7.9 trillion KRW (5.36 billion USD), with approximately 12,000 local employees.
In the U.S. market, CJ has built a multifaceted business structure centered on K-food, K-culture and logistics infrastructure. As of 2024, CJ Foods recorded 4.713 trillion KRW (3.2 billion USD) in U.S. revenue and operates 20 production facilities supplying bibigo Mandu, kimchi, sauces and other products. Meanwhile, CJ Foodville continues its stable growth, operating 170 stores across 30 states.
CJ ENM acquired U.S.-based production company FIFTH SEASON in 2022, establishing a global multi-studio system. Through KCON, the world’s leading K-pop festival, it has drawn a cumulative audience of 2.225 million, playing a central role in expanding K-culture across the U.S.
During his visit, Lee met with key industry leaders including NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang and The Motion Picture Association (MPA) CEO Charles Rivkin to discuss potential collaboration and review K-wave expansion strategies for the North American market.
UK: Europe Emerges as the Next Strategic Region
In September, Lee visited London with key executives from CJ Group to assess opportunities to expand business in Europe. This marked his first on-site management tour to the region, underscoring Europe’s strategic importance in CJ’s global expansion.
“It is critical that we accelerate our global expansion. We must not miss the rapid expansion of the Korean Wave — Hallyu — across Europe,” Lee emphasized in a meeting with local employees. “By securing an early foothold in local markets, we should aim to rise as a top-tier pan-European player. Europe should be our next strategic focus after the U.S.”
During the trip, Lee also met with Len Blavatnik, founder of the global investment firm Access Industries; Bronwen Maddox, Director of Chatham House; and Khaldoon Al Mubarak, co-founder of City Football Group, to discuss potential avenues for strategic collaboration.
CJ’s European expansion began with the establishment of its German subsidiary and the acquisition of Mainfrost in 2018, followed by the launch of subsidiaries in the UK in 2022 and in France and Hungary in 2024. Notably, a new European K-food production facility is currently under construction near Budapest, Hungary, and scheduled to begin producing bibigo Mandu in the second half of 2026, further strengthening CJ’s expansion into the European market.
UAE: The Final Piece in Expanding Into New Middle East Markets
In December, Lee visited the United Arab Emirates for a week, concluding his final round of global on-site management tours for the year. The trip marked his return to the Middle East a year after his September 2023 visit at the invitation of the Saudi Ministry of Culture, reflecting his strong confidence in the region’s growth potential.
During the visit, Lee met again with Khaldoon Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Affairs Authority and CEO of the sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, to discuss opportunities for collaboration across cultural and economic sectors. He also held meetings with Mohammed Al Mubarak, Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Culture and Tourism, and Abdulla Al Hamed, Chairman of the UAE National Media Office, exploring concrete collaboration opportunities and business strategies across the broader cultural landscape. These included hosting KCON, supporting content production and building global production infrastructure in areas such as media, content, tourism and sports.
“We must not miss the momentum of the Korean Wave in the Middle Eastern market, which holds exceptionally strong potential. This is where we must build our next growth engine,” Lee stressed. “To become a company that leads the lifestyles of consumers around the world, we must channel our urgency for global growth into bold expansion into new territories.”
The Middle East, supported by government-led investment, has advanced digital infrastructure and a young consumer demographic, enabling the rapid spread of K-content. Building on this momentum, CJ signed MOUs with Al Khayyat Investments (AKI) and Life Healthcare Group (LHG) last month during the Korea-UAE summit, laying the groundwork to expand its food and beauty businesses in the region.
A Global Vision Connecting Continents Takes Shape
Building on the global networks and insights gained through this year’s on-site management tours, CJ Group plans to accelerate its expansion into new markets in 2026. In particular, Lee’s December visit to the UAE serves as a pivotal moment in CJ’s new global frontier expansion, marking the company’s full-scale push into the high-potential Middle Eastern market.
“This year, Chairman Lee personally visited all of CJ’s major global hubs across Asia, the U.S., Europe and the Middle East, underscoring the importance of securing future growth engines,” a CJ Group official stated. “Moving forward, CJ Group will continue to lead the K-wave through its core business portfolios and evolve into a global leading company that shapes the lifestyles of people around the world.”
