CJ Group vice chairman Lee Chae-wook on Wednesday slammed the government and politicians for shackling the corporate sector from conducting culture-related global projects that could lead to national prosperity.
“CJ has contributed to the global proliferation of Korean pop culture, which led to the enhancement of public awareness and likability for Korea and its products. However, back at home, we have been framed as a predator of the market, and restrained from actively carrying out our business activities,” Lee said at a seminar for the media held at the company’s training center on the day.
At the seminar to mark 20th anniversary of the company’s foray into the culture and lifestyle industries, Lee projected that CJ would become the world’s 10th-largest culture company with annual sales reaching 15.6 trillion won ($13.1 billion) by 2020. It also hopes to reap about 43 percent of total revenue overseas by then.
By that time, CJ can go shoulder-to-shoulder with global entertainment and media giants such as Disney, Sony, Pixar and others, he said.
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| CJ vice chairman Lee Chae-wook speaks at the company’s seminar for the press, designed to mark the 20th anniversary of the company, on Wednesday at CJ HumanVille in central Seoul. CJ Group |
“The secrets to Hollywood and the U.S. culture’s dominance in the markets at home and abroad is the commercialization and industrialization of culture, instead of just preserving it as an art.
“This needs a lot of investment and know-how, both of which are CJ’s strengths. We have invested more than 7 trillion won into the sector over the past 20 years,” Lee said.
“But various regulations and public antipathy, concerned that we may wither the industry by suppressing our competitors, have been hindering our endeavors.”
CJ Group, which was established in 1993 with Samsung Group’s then-food-producing units, announced two years later that it would transform into a culture and entertainment-oriented enterprise.
Since then, the company’s culture units — entertainment firm CJ E&M, cinema complex chain CGV and media platform service provider Hellovision — have shown rapid growth and posted combined sales of 3.6 trillion won in 2014.
Starting with investing $300 million in Hollywood’s major film producer DreamWorks in 1995, CJ went global with cinema facilities spread in the U.S. and across Asia, pop-culture conventions and musicals as well as pop concerts held regularly at home and abroad.
However, the company hit a snag after its chairman Lee Jae-hyun was convicted of embezzlement in 2013. He has been hospitalized for severe renal failure, with his sentence suspended until he recovers.
“The chairman wanted people around the world to watch one to two Korean films a year, eat one two two Korean dishes a month, enjoy one two two episodes of Korean dramas a week and listen to one two two Korean pop songs every day,” the vice chairman said, appealing for public support.
By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)
