For over 40 years, Cuchen (CEO Park Jae-soon) has been presenting premium home appliances with both functionality and design, leveraging expertise accumulated over the years. Particularly renowned as a leading brand in the rice cooker market in Korea, Cuchen has expanded the horizons of the market by incorporating innovative technology and trendy designs tailored to customer lifestyles.
Incheon’s tap water brand, ‘Incheon Sky Water,’ has been awarded the grand prize for two consecutive years in the tap water brand category at the 15th National Brand Awards of Korea. In 2022, Incheon citizens participated in a public contest to name the water brand to convey the idea of reliable, safe, and healthy tap water, eventually choosing ‘Incheon Sky Water,’ which means clean water bestowed by the sky of Incheon, a leading international city with its own international airport.
The INUS is a bathroom specialist brand that presents trendy luxury bathroom experiences. The INUS has been producing high-quality products based on internal customer satisfaction standards stricter than national standards (KS).
Yes24 (yes24.com) started as the first Internet bookstore in Korea in 1998. With a commitment to continuously strive for customer satisfaction, it has maintained its position as the top online bookstore for 25 years. Now, it aims to transform into a ‘culture content platform’ that inspires life from the leading position as a domestic online bookstore.
Goesan County, located in a mountainous highland area at an elevation of 250 meters, is the clean region with significant temperature fluctuations between day and night. The clean red peppers produced in Goesan County are popular for their vibrant color and unique flavor and scent.
Global restaurant franchise Genesis BBQ Group (“BBQ”) is experiencing explosive growth in the U.S. market. As of 2023, BBQ operates over 150 stores in 22 states and plans to expand to over 200 stores within the year.
Hongcheon County in Gangwon Province is a pristine area mainly composed of mountains. Located amidst the Taebaek Mountain Range, Hongcheon boasts the clear and pure Hongcheon River and well-preserved ancient forests. Raised in such a clean and pristine environment, ‘Hongcheon Neulpureum Hanwoo’ is renowned for its safety as food.
Hyundai Livart leads the domestic premium furniture market with creative designs, top-notch materials, and technology. Departing from the conventional and uniform designs in the domestic furniture market, Hyundai Livart has focused on differentiation as the core design direction.
The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (“the Corporation”) is a public institution responsible for the nation’s food supply. In 2021, it laid the foundation for ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) practices through the declaration of ‘ESG Management.’ In response to the climate crisis, it introduced the ‘Low Carbon Diet Campaign,’ a citizen-participation campaign, and spread it as an international campaign through the declaration ceremony of ‘Global Green Food Day’ in September 2022.
‘Ilmu’ of the Seoul Metropolitan Dance Company is a contemporary reinterpretation of the royal ancestral ritual music in the Jongmyo Shrine (Jongmyo Jeryeak), which is designated as the first National Intangible Cultural Heritage and UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This large-scale ensemble dance performed by over 50 dancers has been receiving acclaim by highlighting the motion in stillness, the unique feature of Korean dance.
To commemorate its 60th anniversary, Samyang Foods has completely revamped the taste and design of both Samyang Ramen and Samyang Ramen Spicy flavors.
The Jeju tangerine brand, ‘Gyullojangsaeng,’ created by the Jeju National Agricultural Cooperative Federation and the Jeju Tangerine Association, won the prize in the 15th National Brand Awards. With this, Gyullojangsaeng has received the honor for 13 consecutive years, since 2012.
KB Financial Group strives to practice mutual prosperity and fulfill its social responsibilities. The group aims to support small business owners, and small to medium-sized enterprises to enhance their competitiveness and facilitate growth. Through this, KB Financial Group promotes the self-reliance and growth of local communities and pursues the development of economic ecosystems connected to local communities.
At the 15th National Brand Awards of Korea, Uljin Snow Crab (County Mayor Son Byeong-bok) was selected as the winner for the 8th consecutive year in the crab category. Uljin Snow Crab inhabits ultra-fine mud areas at depths ranging from 200 to 400 meters around Wangdolcho, Uljin, which has the perfect marine environment where cold and warm currents meet. Unlike crabs from other regions, Uljin Snow Crab is distinguished by its strong sweetness and intense aroma, garnering significant love from consumers.
Yongin Special City, the hub city of the semiconductor industry in Korea (Mayor Lee Sang-il), has been selected as the winner in the semiconductor industry-leading city category in the 15th Korea National Brand Awards. Yongin scored the highest in brand awareness among local authorities in Korea in the semiconductor industry-leading city category in the National Brand Competitiveness Index. This is attributed to the fruition of the efforts made by Mayor Lee Sang-il since his inauguration, focusing on the establishment of the semiconductor industry ecosystem. Mayor Lee achieved positive results in △ attraction of national industrial complexes, △ formation of hinterland cities and △ attraction of corporate investment, which are the basis for the ‘establishment of the semiconductor industry ecosystem.’
Lotte World, celebrating its 35th anniversary since opening in 1989, stands as Korea’s premier comprehensive entertainment company. Alongside its Water Park and Aquarium greeting their 10th anniversary this year, Seoul Sky and Adventure Busan, Lotte World keeps successfully operating adventure facilities. Lotte World realized its vision of ‘global entertainment’ by opening Lotte World Aquarium in Hanoi, Vietnam last August.
Kyunghee Cyber University(President Byun Chang-gu) was established in 2001 as the first cyber university in Korea. It has garnered high praise from various external institutions for providing excellent learning environments and methods. Additionally, it is recognized for its expertise in the field of online education.
The Christian Memorial Park actively participates in establishing Christian burial culture and contributes to the nation’s land efficiency policy. Since its inauguration in 2004, the Christian Memorial Park has expanded significantly, with the consecration of over 4,000 burial tablets in November 2009 and the addition of 15,000 more in August 2016 through the expansion of Victory Hall. With 10 memorial halls, burial tablets, family graves, and a memorial garden, it solidifies its position as Korea’s representative memorial park, accommodating a total of 39,122 burial tablets.
As Jincheon County marks the second year of implementing ESG governance, it has expanded and revised its ‘Jincheon-style ESG Double-Up’ initiative from 84 to 104 subprojects. ESG stands for Environment, Social, and Governance, representing a global management trend that evaluates non-financial factors impacting organizational value and sustainability from a long-term perspective.
Seegene Medical Foundation, a specialized medical institution for disease testing, is continuously innovating under the mission of ‘enhancing human health and happiness’. It has established the Smart Lab, equipped with the largest automated testing system in Korea, and has developed next-generation diagnostic testing systems based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology for application in the testing sector.
Siwon School has won the grand prize in the Foreign Language Education category in the 15th Korea National Brand Awards for the 10th consecutive year. Siwon School develops and offers optimal foreign language learning content tailored to learners’ levels and ages. By providing such convenient content, its efforts have been recognized. Being selected for the grand prize attests to this achievement.
With the full revision of the Local Autonomy Act implemented, ‘Suwon Special City’ was launched on January 13, 2022. In accordance with this, Suwon embarked on developing a new City Identity (CI). From the early stages, Suwon gathered citizen opinions through public hearings and online surveys. In addition to this, experts were consulted to intensively discuss and deliberate design concepts.
Seoul National University Hospital Gangnam Center (“Gangnam Center”) has won the grand prize in the Healthcare System category at the 15th Korea National Brand Awards for the 11th consecutive year. Gangnam Center received high praise for △ patient-centered screening service and △ leading trends in future-oriented healthcare services utilizing information and communication technology.
Goesan County won the top prize in the eco-friendly organic farming city category for the 12th consecutive year and the chili pepper brand category for two consecutive years in the 15th Korea National Brand Awards.
Incheon National University (President Jong-Tae Park) has won the top prize in the National Public University category for three consecutive years at the ‘2024 Korea National Brand Awards’, following its victories in 2022 and 2023. The ‘Korea National Brand Awards’ is hosted by one of the world’s top three advertising festivals, the New York Festivals, and is sponsored by Chosun Ilbo. It annually selects and announces the leading brands in various fields representing Korea based on the National Brand Competitiveness Index.
Dongwon F&B’s premium dairy brand ‘Denmark’ was established through a joint venture between Korea and Denmark in 1985 to contribute to the development of Korea’s dairy industry and provide high-quality dairy products. Made in the style of Denmark, a leading dairy nation, products are fresher and healthier.
Since its establishment in 1969, NH Investment & Securities has grown alongside its customers for over 50 years. By prioritizing customer values and practicing customer-centric management, it has solidified its position as Korea’s leading comprehensive financial investment company with outstanding competitiveness across all business sectors. Furthermore, it continues to flexibly adapt to the rapidly changing financial environment, building differentiated services, and a comprehensive portfolio. Throughout this journey, NH Investment & Securities strives to maintain customer choice and trust, positively impacting stakeholders.
Jongga, the first packaged Kimchi brand in Korea, has established itself not only domestically but also as a leading Kimchi brand overseas. In the 1980s, ahead of the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Korean government aimed to promote Kimchi. Renowned Kimchi artisans, including the Intangible Cultural Heritage No. 38 and inheritor of Joseon royal cuisine, the late Hwang Hye-sung, gathered to create standardized recipes. The brand name ‘Jonggajip’ was chosen to signify the standardization of the traditional taste passed down through generations. In October 2022, Jonggajip unveiled a new brand identity as ‘Jongga’ and declared its leap into a global brand.
Cheongju is a business-friendly city where large and small enterprises coexist. It has established a foundation for ‘food for the next 100 years’ by attracting promising companies in strategic industries such as semiconductors, secondary batteries, and biotechnology. Additionally, Cheongju is centrally located in the transportation network of Korea, with access within two hours from anywhere in Korea, thanks to KTX Osong Station and Cheongju International Airport.
Hite Jinro first launched Chamisul in October 1998. Within just two years of its release, Chamisul achieved over 50% market share in the domestic soju market, ushering in a new era. The cumulative sales of Chamisul have reached approximately 39 billion bottles, an amount that could make over 10 round trips to the moon or circle the Earth 200 times.
ECPlaza is a specialized trade platform company that conducts online promotion for domestic and foreign exporters, as well as the discovery of overseas buyers. Since developing the first domestic global trade B2B (business-to-business) in Korea in 1996, ECPlaza.net has been in operation for 26 years. Over the past 22 years, it has accumulated a vast database of domestic and international member companies and overseas buyer data, providing excellent online trade solutions.
Yeosu boasts outstanding natural landscapes such as Hallyeohaesang National Park and Dadohaehaesang National Park. It is known as the ‘City of Romance and Healing,’ with its pristine waters along the southern coast, including 365 jewel-like islands and a mild climate throughout the year.
‘Dawn 808’ by Grammy Co., Ltd., the invention patent company (Chairman Nam Jong-hyun), is the first natural tea for hangover relief in the world. Since its launch in 1998, it has been the number one hangover relief brand, contributing to fostering the healthy drinking culture of ‘Happy Homes, Healthy Me.’
The flagship line of Goongbe, ‘Pri-mmune’, nurtures the inherent strength of baby skin. It contains Goongbe’s patented ingredient, ‘Royal Oji Complex’, along with essential components for baby skin, such as ceramides, amino acids, and polyphenols. Effectively reinforcing the barrier of baby skin, which is 30% thinner than adults, it offers outstanding moisturizing and soothing effects.
Last month, DB Insurance (represented by Jeong Jong-pyo) saw an upgrade in its credit rating from the world’s largest credit rating agency, S&P (Standard & Poor’s). The rating was raised from A (Stable) to A+ (Stable), the first upgrade since 2018.
Walkerhill Hotel & Resort (“Walkerhill”) has been recognized as the best hotel in Korea offering a trendy urban lifestyle and diverse experiences in leisure and culture. Walkerhill was selected as the winner in the hotel & resort category at the 15th Korea National Brand Awards. This achievement marks eight consecutive years of being ranked number one, since 2017. Walkerhill has been highly praised for providing not only diverse experiences beyond hotel stays but also for delivering the utmost satisfaction to its guests.
Dongwon F&B is a leading comprehensive food company in Korea, launching a variety of food products, including the first canned tuna in Korea, ‘Dongwon Tuna,’ as well as △seafood processed foods, △canned ham, △frozen and refrigerated foods, △dairy processed foods, △health functional foods, and △home meal replacements (HMR).
SK Securities was selected as the winner in the ESG Management category of the 15th Korea National Brand Awards.
The Korea National Brand Awards, now in its 15th year, is an internationally recognized ceremony that shares the achievements of brands that hold the highest value and respect as national assets and honors their outstanding reputation on a global scale. SK Securities has proudly received the ESG Management award for the second consecutive year.
LG Uplus provides various home services based on the Internet, including △Internet TV ‘U+tv next’ and △an IoT (Internet of Things) service, U+Smart Home equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology. Last August, U+tv next significantly improved the convenience of content viewing. In addition to real-time broadcast content provided by previous U+tv, customers can conveniently watch personalized video-on-demand (VOD) and video streaming services (OTT) tailored to their profiles in one place.
Terra achieved the fastest early period sales rate among beer brands, surpassing ‘1 million boxes sold’ just 39 days after its release in March 2019. Since then, Terra has continued its rise with a record average annual growth rate of 17% over the past 5 years.
Chungbuk is the new name of Chungcheongbuk-do, ‘Chungbuk, Stand at the Heart of Korea,’ won the Grand Prize in the Brand Slogan category at the 15th Korea National Brand Awards. The committee highly appreciated Chungbuk’s brand slogan for its active communication with citizens. In fact, over 3,000 citizens participated in the brand slogan contest held in April last year. The design was also completed with the input from citizens, including ideas from the ‘Youth Brand Participation Team,’ composed of students from 11 design departments in the universities in Chungbuk, and through the Korea Design Competition.
On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, Kyungbok University declared Vision 2030, ‘Cultivating Talents, Training Champions!’ With this, the university presented its development strategies; △ completing a digital transformation as the university’s digital strategy, △constructing tailored services from a student success perspective as the student success strategy, △strengthening the brand through global network activities as the internal and external expansion and sharing strategy, and △ensuring sustainability through ESG management.
The Seoul Business Agency (Representative Director: Kim Hyunwoo) is a small and medium enterprise support institution dedicated to fostering beauty, content, and innovation SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) and activating the startup ecosystem in Seoul. For the past 26 years, since its establishment, it has been expanding the startup ecosystem through public-private partnerships in technology, content, beauty, and other areas, supporting SME’s growth into global companies as well as nurturing outstanding SMEs and corporate talents in Seoul.
Cookcell offers hybrid kitchenware such as △frying pans, △woks, and △pots that combine stainless steel and coating. Its competitive edge lies in patented technology recognized in Korea, Germany, China, and elsewhere. All products feature a robust structure comprising a triple-layered stainless steel body. Utilizing hexagonal dot embossing technology, the coating is filled within the dotted hexagonal pattern of the inner surface, minimizing contact area with food to enhance cooking efficiency and prevent food from sticking. Moreover, it uses coating materials compliant with the U.S. FDA (Food and Drug Administration) standards for safer usage. With Black Cube’s exclusive patented technology, the coating withstands strong friction, making cleaning easier and extending the product’s lifespan.
Kia Members is the membership brand initiated by Kia in 2006, marking the industry’s first membership brand. With △the launch of ‘Kia EV Members’ in 2021 and △’Kia EV Members Taxi’ in 2022, it provides tailored membership services for electric vehicle owners.
The collaborative brand ‘Goodtrae’ was developed in 2003 to adapt to the rapidly changing market environment and to embody the desires of the residents of Buyeo County, Chungcheongnam-do. The use of the brand ‘Goodtrae’ has been granted to companies that have passed rigorous evaluation criteria, including △farming experience, △internal quality control, △production facilities, △distribution status, and △external credibility every two years. So far, a total of 694 organizations have been authorized to use the brand and are actively sharing its value.
On the occasion of its 30th anniversary, Kyungbok University declared Vision 2030, ‘Cultivating Talents, Training Champions!’ With this, the university presented its development strategies; △ completing a digital transformation as the university’s digital strategy, △constructing tailored services from a student success perspective as the student success strategy, △strengthening the brand through global network activities as the internal and external expansion and sharing strategy, and △ensuring sustainability through ESG management.