Expatriate Division, Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Japan

"Opportunities are created." HU JIA CHI, who moved to South Korea for love, has spent the past decade building her life there. What began as a working-holiday job eventually grew into her own beauty-brand empire. Today, she has firmly established herself in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, fulfilling her childhood dream of becoming her own boss.

For Love, She Set off for Korea Right After Graduation
Hu grew up in Tucheng, New Taipei City. In her sophomore year of university, she met online the man who is now her husband, an ethnic Chinese Korean. After three years of dating, and with encouragement from her mother-in-law, she moved to Seoul at age 23 upon graduation. Arriving in a country where everything was unfamiliar, she struggled not only with the language barrier but also with the high-pressure work culture and the sense of exclusion she felt as a foreigner. These challenges left her physically and mentally exhausted. By chance, she entered the beauty industry, where her employer became her first mentor in beauty-brand management and inspired her to start her own purchasing-agent business in 2016.

Hu gave herself just one year to make her business work. She handled everything—from product selection to packing and delivery—while finding customers became her biggest challenge. "Starting a business means embracing hardship!" she says. To save money, she and her husband once drove out to deliver orders themselves after packing for 72 hours straight, which led to a car accident caused by fatique. Around the same time, she gave birth to her son. It was overwhelming to balance a newborn with the demands of a growing business, and at one point stress pushed her weight up to 90 kilograms.

Gaining a Solid Foothold in Korea's Beauty Market by Personally Leading R&D and Product Testing
Hu has stayed true to her entrepreneurial principle that "good service and reputation come first." She pushed through a difficult period when she lost more than NT$1 million to customer fraud. In 2018, she officially founded her company, Hango Cosmetic, which aims to  help Korean brands enter the Taiwan market and customize product formulations and designs based on client needs. As her core customer base grew, she strengthened the company's supply chain and brand identity, expanding into diverse sales channels such as import distribution and group-buying. In 2022, she became an LG subsidiary partner, obtained authorization for Korean beauty brands, and entered major retail chains.

After years of hard work, her company has secured a solid place in South Korea's beauty industry, attracting numerous brands seeking collaboration. Yet Hu was not content to stay where she was. In 2023, she began developing her own beauty brands and has already registered six trademarks in Korea. "What I love most about R&D is the innovation part," she says. "You get to create exactly what you want." She believes beauty products shouldn't be so expensive, so she works to offer affordable yet high-quality options. 

Holding the belief that "you have to make something you'd want to buy yourself before you can convince customers," Hu approaches every detail with care—from ingredient selection and medical testing to packaging design. She points to Éclavi, the company's fragrance body-wash line, as an example: the team spent six months testing materials and a full year developing the formula, before sending the product to the largest dermatology research institute in Korea for rigorous testing.

"Before you can excel at something, you must first fully understand it." In her office, she keeps more than 500 types of fragrance ingredients and collaborates with a well-known Taiwanese perfumer to create custom blends. She also personally tests every product before launch, ensuring the products meet her high standards for being non-irritating, hypoallergenic, and uniquely scented.

Initially, when Hu was testing the waters, she lacked confidence in launching her own brand. She produced only a small batch and invested NT$100,000 in marketing. To her surprise, the product became an instant hit, earning glowing consumer reviews and even being recommended by hospitals in South Korea. Within just six months, it had sold over 50,000 bottles. To reduce advertising costs and improve development efficiency, she expanded into a new area in 2024 by establishing an integrated marketing company to help brands secure advertising opportunities.

She believes that her company carries sharp insight into the beauty industry that allows it to predict upcoming trends in Korea faster than Taiwanese importers or Korean purchasing agents. Hango Cosmetic has steadily expanded its customer base year after year, growing its annual export revenue from under US$1 million at the end of 2022 to over US$6 million in 2024. Now supported by an 18-member team, she has created an impressive success story in her entrepreneurial journey.

Harnessing Taiwanese Business Power to Expand into Asian Markets
With the recommendation of JU JUNHYUK, President of the Korea Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hu seized the opportunity to compete alongside Taiwanese entrepreneurs worldwide. She applied for the 2025 Global Young Enterpreneur Stars Award, and stood out among the candidates.

"This is a great chance to level up," she said. Using the advisory resources provided to award winners, she received guidance from two industry mentors on brand management and promotion strategies. Having lived in Korea for many years, Hu felt she had become disconnected from Taiwan's distribution channels and marketing landscape. She hoped to gain deeper insight into Taiwanese industries with strong growth potential. Thanks to the mentorship, she learned how Taiwanese brands break into overseas markets and develop their products from the ground up.

Hu has been a member of the Korea Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry for nearly two years. In July 2025 she took on the role of Deputy Director of the Media and Public Relations Committee at the Asia Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce. Through these two organizations, she has connected with Taiwanese entrepreneurs across different Asian countries and gained valuable cross-industry insights. For instance, when planning to expand her e-commerce platform into Vietnam, she was able to obtain first-hand market information from the Taiwanese entrepreneurs based there. "Computer data can never compare to what you see on the ground," she said.

Dreams Don't Wait. Action is the Best Groundwork.
During the decade when many women are in the prime of their youth, Hu devoted herself entirely to her work. She constantly adjusted her pace and direction to keep up with consumer needs and industry trends. As she reconsidered what she truly desires in life, the regret of having missed parts of her child's early years due to the demands of building her business has prompted her to slowly shift more of her attention back to her family.

"Every industry has its downturn someday. I'm hoping my next side venture becomes the main one!" Hu said with a laugh, sharing the dream she and her husband have of opening a Taiwanese restaurant and shrimp-fishing venue in Korea. She has even proposed a "Taiwan Products Festival" to the Chamber of Commerce, hoping to help Taiwanese goods gain a stronger foothold in the Korean market.

"Never rule something out before you've even tried. Without taking that step, you'll never know what the outcome could be." Facing the unknown, Hu embraces courage and forward momentum. She believes that as long as she is prepared to accept the worst outcome, any attempt is worthwhile. She plans to continue expanding her beauty brand empire and move step by step into the next chapter of her life.