Asian-American Media Leaders Launch World’s First K-Beauty Social Network At KCON

First Asian-American finalist – James Sun  on Donald Trump’s The Apprentice builds the Facebook of Korean beauty with Jude Chao and Anna Park

South Korean exports have ignited a global craze, and among those exports, Korean cosmetics—commonly known as K-beauty—are among the most popular and profitable, with US sales hitting $225M in 2016.

In response to the rise of K-beauty, tech entrepreneur James Sun has assembled a team of Asian-American media leaders and influencers to launch the world’s first K-beauty-focused social network at W2Beauty.com. The W2Beauty social network is fully integrated with an editorial and shopping site, which utilizes a Seoul-based direct sourcing and fulfillment team to identify and provide cult items, trending products, and major new releases to global consumers.Sun says, “As a Korean-American, I’ve had a desire to bridge the creative talents, culture, and products from Korea to the rest of the world. Korean dramas and Korean beauty are a natural extension of this global phenomenon.”

Sun adds, “K-beauty is not only for Asians or Koreans. In fact, the right K-beauty products can be perfect for skin types all around the world. Our team of writers and influencers are Asian, Latina, African American, and we have customers from the Middle East to Latin America to Australia.”nternational K-beauty fans’ hunger for community is apparent on social media. According to consulting group Preen.me, Instagram users created 15 million posts about K-beauty between 2014 and 2016, with K-beauty Instagram posts having received over 500M social interactions.Until now, however, users have been segregated among generic platforms like Instagram, Facebook, and Reddit. Seeing the success of other subject matter-focused communities, like Twitch and the wine lovers’ social network Vivino, as well as his own K-drama site Dramabeans.com, which boasts over 14M users in the past 12 months, Sun set out to provide a similar platform for K-beauty fans to engage in peer-to-peer interactions.

To support the community with expert educational content, Sun assembled an editorial team and “K-Beauty Squad,” featuring leaders from Asian-American and beauty media. The team is led by editor in chief Anna M. Park, former EIC of Audrey magazine, and top English-language K-beauty blogger Jude Chao as editor at large. Other contributing editors include Coco Park, author of Korean Beauty Secrets: A Practical Guide to Cutting-Edge Skincare and Makeup, K-beauty influencer Sheryll Donerson, as well as an array of leading beauty vloggers.