Han Moon-il, CEO of Musinsa, "Will Increase Offline Stores in Japan"

Targeting the Market According to Key Offline Japanese Characteristics
"Focusing on Securing Japanese Partners, Considering Listing in the Second Half of Next Year"

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] Han Moon-il, CEO of Musinsa, stated in an interview with Japanese media that unlike in Korea, they plan to increase offline stores to align with the local market atmosphere. He also explained that they are considering going public in the second half of next year depending on market conditions.

According to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) on the 5th, CEO Han plans to start with the Japanese market this year and then challenge global expansion including North America. Regarding the Japanese business, which began with the establishment of an overseas corporation in 2021, they are focusing on store expansion considering the market characteristic that offline is stronger than online.

Musinsa has been steadily holding pop-up stores in places like Shibuya, Tokyo, with seven events held just last year. CEO Han told Nikkei, "This year, along with opening permanent stores, we will further expand pop-up stores." To support this, they also plan to establish a logistics base in Japan as early as this year.

For online, Musinsa launched a Japanese version of its application (app) in September last year and has been selling through it. As of the end of last year, they showcased about 300 Korean brand clothing and accessories.

CEO Han also stated that they plan to support overseas sales of Japanese brands. His strategy is to increase brands not available on other shopping sites to secure competitiveness.

According to Nikkei, CEO Han stayed in Japan for a month at the end of last year focusing on securing partners. He said, "There are many excellent brands in Japan, so we will create a structure to sell them worldwide through the Musinsa platform," adding, "In Korea, we have made small investments in 100 emerging brands. We want to create the same virtuous cycle in Japan."

Musinsa’s goal for this year is to increase overseas transaction volume. They aim to achieve 5 billion yen (approximately 48 billion KRW) in Japan and another 5 billion yen in other overseas markets excluding Japan. In Korea, they plan to increase transaction volume by 30% compared to the previous year, reaching 4 billion USD (approximately 5.0752 trillion KRW). They are also preparing for an IPO, but regarding timing, he said, "We will decide after observing market trends in the second half of next year."

CEO Han’s five-year goal is for overseas sales to surpass those in Korea. He concluded the interview saying, "I dream of a future where clothing by Asian designers, including those from Japan, is sold worldwide using the Musinsa platform."

Meanwhile, Nikkei also paid attention to CEO Han’s age of 34 and the ‘startup boom’ centered on the 2030 generation in Korea’s labor market. Nikkei reported, "While large corporations remain popular employment choices in Korea, the work attitudes of the 2030 generation are changing," adding, "It is known that CEO Han had entrepreneurial intentions since his time at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)." They further noted, "Young Koreans tend to seek fair evaluations where compensation corresponds to their roles. As a result, many young people are turning to startups rather than large corporations with conventional personnel systems."