Son Kyung-sik, chairman of CJ Group, warned that uncertainties such as sluggish domestic consumption and changes in the global trade environment will deepen in 2025. He urged CJ Group to establish super-gap competitiveness in each business.

The view of a building densely packed with officetels from the 63 Building in Yeouido, Seoul. /Courtesy of News1

On the 2nd, Chairman Son announced in his New Year's speech through CJ Group's internal broadcast, "Our group is at a critical juncture that could turn into a golden opportunity or result in being eliminated from the market, depending on how we respond to the crisis this year." He went on to say, "This year, while domestic consumption is expected to continue being sluggish, unprecedented structural changes will occur due to rapid changes in the global trade environment and geopolitical situations, along with aging populations, economic polarization, climate change, and accelerated AI innovation."

He also noted, "With the second term of the Trump administration, there will be many changes in the global economic and security landscape due to strengthened protectionism in the United States." He cautioned that "if we are only focused on short-term responses without fundamental competitiveness, we could face a serious crisis when the domestic and foreign management environment changes." He added, "When super-gap competitiveness is firmly established in each business, we can continue to grow steadily even amidst complex crises."

Chairman Son presented two key tasks for achieving competitive growth. He said, "I hope you will actively pursue securing growth engines through global territorial expansion," and emphasized, "We must strengthen our domestic business while securing the engines for future growth through global operations." He also urged, "Maximize the potential opportunities in each business by discovering them and linking them to growth, and capture and utilize growth opportunities in a thoroughly prepared manner."

Chairman Son said, "Last year's exports saw some recovery and inflation slowed, but the continued sluggishness of domestic consumption caused many difficulties in the business field," and stated, "It was a year where consumption and investment remained weak in almost all countries globally, except for the United States."

He added, "Reflecting on our group's performance last year, despite it being the first year of the '2426 mid-term strategy execution' for rebuilding our Only One status, we were insufficient in securing definite market competitiveness due to our focus on short-term responses, and we regret that we did not sufficiently lay the foundations for future growth."

Chairman Son remarked, "We can achieve the group's growth and development when we possess a challenging attitude in times of crisis" and stated, "I hope this year will be a year to restore the group's growth potential by accelerating challenges towards the global market."