Source: The Korea Herald

What happened

According to The Korea Herald, Amorepacific Group and LG Household & Health Care both posted sharp second-quarter gains, with growth skewed to North America, Europe, and Japan rather than China.

Amorepacific Group reported 1.25 trillion won (about $873 million) in revenue and 122.8 billion won in operating profit — up 14.6% and 53.3% year-on-year. Abroad, operating profit nearly doubled to 71.8 billion won, outpacing domestic profit growth of 48%.

LG H&H posted 1.66 trillion won in revenue and 102.8 billion won in operating profit, up 87.5%. Beauty swung to 44.4 billion won in operating profit on 818.4 billion won revenue.

The breakdown

Laneige, Cosrx, Illiyoon, and Mise en Scene logged record Amazon Prime Day sales in the U.S. and Europe, Amorepacific said; dermatology label Aestura posted triple-digit U.S. growth via Sephora and Amazon. China revenue declined as the group keeps restructuring around core channels. Amorepacific cut China exposure from 54% of the business in 2019 to 23% by 2024.

For LG H&H, North America revenue jumped 47.3% to 205.8 billion won, overtaking China’s 176 billion won (down 5%) for the first time. Brands cited include Dr. Groot, Euthymol, and The Whoo; the company also refreshed The Creme Shop identity for younger U.S. shoppers. Tariff refunds helped, but management also credited premium brands and North American expansion.

Amorepacific’s overseas profit nearly doubling while China revenue falls is the cleanest single chart in the Herald piece. LG H&H’s North America line overtaking China for the first time is the matching proof on the other conglomerate.

Named U.S./EU channels — Amazon Prime Day, Sephora, trade-show resets for The Creme Shop — tell operators where the companies are spending attention. Duty-free and China still matter, but they are no longer the sole swing factor the way they were when China was half of Amorepacific’s map.

Why it matters outside Korea

Retail buyers, duty-free planners, and travelers who still treat K-beauty as a China-plus-Myongdong story are reading last decade’s map. The P&L now says U.S./EU shelves and Amazon/Sephora lanes are where the growth is defended.

Travel retail planners and overseas distributors should update sell-in assumptions: prestige and dermocosmetic lanes in North America are carrying more of the P&L story than “daigou plus Myeongdong” folklore.

What travelers and expats should watch

• Shop U.S./EU authorized channels if you want the lines driving these results — Amazon and Sephora are named, not only Seoul duty-free.
• Do not assume China restock patterns predict global availability; both groups are still pruning that exposure.
• Re-check which SKUs are “export hero” versus domestic-only before you bulk-buy for resale — this brief is not selling advice.
• Watch North America marketing pushes (trade-show refreshes, Prime Day) as the demand signal, not airport anecdote alone.

Context

Business pages will say “K-beauty boom.” Korelay’s frame: read Q2 as a geography swap — less China dependence, more North America proof — not as a simple volume spike at every Korean cosmetics counter.

An industry official quoted by Herald still calls China crucial — just no longer the make-or-break swing. That is the balanced read: pivot, not abandonment.

Korelay take

Business pages will say “K-beauty boom.” Korelay’s frame: read Q2 as a geography swap — less China dependence, more North America proof — not as a simple volume spike at every Korean cosmetics counter.

An industry official quoted by Herald still calls China crucial — just no longer the make-or-break swing. That is the balanced read: pivot, not abandonment.

Editor note: Desk reporting supplies the timeline; Korelay adds the overseas behavior layer (what to change, what not to assume, what to re-check). If you only need the wire facts, open the primary link in Source.

Source

The Korea Herald: Less China, more America — K-beauty’s big two report strong Q2 — paraphrased for briefing; not investment advice.