In 2024, Korea passed France as the top source of beauty imports into the US. From Amazon and TikTok Shop to Ulta and Sephora, then Target and Costco: every step a Korean brand climbs in America changes who it needs to hire.
15 Korean brands on America's stairs: 11 already sell nationwide in mass and club stores, and 1 has a US entity of its own.
Brands climb on public dates: landing (Amazon, TikTok Shop or an own store) → Ulta & Sephora → mass and club stores → a US entity. Each date is the earliest we could confirm in public sources; sources are on each brand page.
US import records (UN Comtrade, HS 3304) and Korea Customs Service export statistics.
UN Comtrade, US imports of HS 3304 (CIF). Korea passed France in 2024 and widened the gap in 2025.
Korea's #1 export market · 2026-08: $210M (+46.3%)
Colour make-up is 11% (Japan: 20%).
As competitors and as shelves: how America's majors meet the rise of Korean beauty.
America's largest prestige beauty group.
Owns a Korean brand, and booked impairments on it as growth slowed in China and Korea (FY2025).
The fast-growing US value-beauty company, now with rhode.
Lists South Korea among its sourcing countries (FY2026 10-K).
America's largest beauty retailer.
K-beauty sales grew double digits in Q2 FY2026, nearly half from exclusive products.
Public facts, grouped. Not predictions: material for reading the next move.
ReadingMost Korean brands reach Target and Costco through distributors and their Korean headquarters. Whether to build a US team is the next fork.
ReadingA US entity is where hiring in America starts. medicube set one up in 2019 and now sells at Ulta, Target and on Amazon.
ReadingIn the US, Korean groups and platforms hire, not single brands. E-commerce (Amazon, TikTok Shop) roles lead (7). Korean is required in 10 postings, mostly back-office roles that report to Korean headquarters (tax, HR, supply chain), and preferred in 12.
Roles Korean brands actually advertised at each growth step: a map for global companies hiring in Korea.
Counts are the Korean companies at each step that publicly advertised the role (checked 2026-10-12).
We find product planners, formulation scientists, cross-border e-commerce and overseas sales people who built their careers at Korea's ODMs (COSMAX, Kolmar Korea) and fast-growing brands.
For HR teamsTalk to us about hiring K-beauty talent in Korea →Pan size = last 12 months of exports; shade = year-on-year growth. The glittering pans grew fastest; the gold frame is the US.
On US import records (UN Comtrade, HS 3304), Korea passed France as the top source in 2024 ($1.76B, 22.5% share), and reached $1,855M (24.8%) in 2025. Korea Customs data shows exports of beauty preparations (HS 3304) to the US of $2.18B over the last 12 months (2025-09 to 2026-08), +31.6% year on year: Korea's largest export market.
Public postings show e-commerce (amazon, tiktok shop), finance, admin & hr, scm & logistics, key account sales roles most often. Roles that work with Korean headquarters often require or prefer Korean.
Banseog Search is an executive search firm in Korea. We help global companies hire in Korea: product planning, formulation R&D, cross-border e-commerce and overseas sales talent from Korea's ODMs and fast-growing brands.
Only public sources anyone can check: company filings and press releases, news reports, public job postings, UN Comtrade (US import records) and Korea Customs Service export statistics. We do not estimate undisclosed figures, and we never use client information from our search work.
Sources: UN Comtrade (US imports, HS 3304), Korea Customs Service exports by item and country (HS 3304), company filings, press releases and news reports, public job postings. Checked 2026-10-12. We do not estimate undisclosed figures.