Amorepacific (090430.KS) said it will donate a total of 1 billion won ($720,000) to Yonsei University to develop an index that measures "inner beauty."
The research, conducted with Yonsei's Institute for Population and Talent, was prompted by concerns that teenagers in digital and social media environments increasingly compare their appearance to others and are exposed to uniform standards of beauty.
Of the 1 billion won, 500 million won will fund research on young people's inner beauty, while the remaining 500 million won will support research into responding to social changes such as the shift to artificial intelligence and demographic change.
The two sides plan to define the core concept of "inner beauty" as the ability to bring about positive change in relationships with others, beyond an individual's internal values, and to develop a Korean Inner Beauty Index (IBI) that can measure it objectively.
The findings will be used to evaluate and improve "Meet Your Beauty," a social contribution campaign for younger generations that Amorepacific has run since 2024. The plan is to more systematically analyze the effectiveness of existing programs — including education on beauty awareness, career mentoring and creator training — and to give more concrete direction to youth support activities.
The Yonsei research on responding to structural social change, backed by Amorepacific, focuses on analyzing how the sweeping shift to AI and demographic change affect society and on finding paths to sustainable development. The donation will be used to build a research foundation, including recruiting researchers and running policy conferences.
Amorepacific Chairman Suh Kyung-bae said, "The healthy growth of future generations is an important challenge that we must consider together for the sustainable development of our society," adding, "I hope this collaboration will help young people discover their inner beauty and grow into independent members of society." He stressed, "Amorepacific will continue to support the growth of future generations based on our calling to make people and the world beautiful."
