Chairman Lee Jay-hyun of CJ Group

The ads for hit movies like “Kwanghae,” “Myungrang” and the “Veteran,” which were mega-hits attracting over 10 million viewers each, all produced by CJ Group’s entertainment section. (Photos:CJ Group)

CJ Group announced recently its new vision to be among the top 10 global cultural enterprise corporations by 2020, suggesting it will attempt to go down the same path as Walt Disney. The group entered the cultural content business 20 years ago, but now the company wants to make the culture and entertainment content business one its future growth engines.

Vice Chairman and CEO Lee Chai-wook of the group said at a seminar held to celebrate the 20th anniversary since the group entered the cultural and entertainment business that the group’s sales of its cultural and entertainment contents would reach around 15.6 trillion won in 2020, about four times last year’s 3.6 trillion won, and the group plans to invest 10 trillion won in the new growth engine in the next five years. He made the comments at CJ Personnel Talent Institute in Pil-dong, downtown Seoul on Sept. 2.

The group has decided to benchmark Walt Disney, which posted around 50 trillion won in worldwide sales, including movies, TV programs, music videos, publications, theme parks and mobile contents, among other content products in cultural and entertainment areas.

Chairman Lee Jay-hyun and his sister Mee-kyung, vice chairman of the group, flew together to Los Angeles in March, 1993 in order to complete the group’s investment in Dream Works SKG. Cheiljedang, the major affiliate of the group, invested $300 million in the movie production company to become a major shareholder.

During the height of the financial crisis of 1997, the group started its film production business with 1.5 billion won and set up CJ E&M. But the deficits amounted to 10 billion won in 2000. Chairman Lee continued to run the business in a gutsy move, despite the rising deficits. His unceasing effort to make the business profitable paid off in a handsome way with the company producing a number of hit movies including “Haeundae,” which was watched by over 10 million paid viewers, followed by “Kwanghae,” “Myungrang” and the “Veteran,” each of them attracting over 10 million viewers, providing the company with a solid track record to work off of.

The group extended its operation to cable TV and took over Mnet, a musical cable TV channel. The group also opened its first movie house called CGV Riverside 11, and also listed its stock on the Korea Exchange to become a public company in 2002. The group continued to expand its business areas by starting the performance business in 2003, which was followed by opening a tvN cable TV entertainment channel in 2006 and a 4D movie theater for the first time in Korea. The group officially launched the CJ E&M in 2011.

Exports of its entertainment and cultural contents have been one of the group’s key objectives going forward. The group now runs 1,637 movie houses in six countries, including Korea, the U.S., China and Vietnam and plans to expand them to over 10,000 in 12 countries in the near future. When the plan is completed, over 80 percent of its movie houses will be located in foreign countries, with 65 percent of its revenues coming from overseas.

Vice Chairman Lee boasted that the 130 million viewers at CGV movie houses will rise to around 700 million by 2020, five times more than the current numbers, and those movie houses will be a “K-movie” platform for introducing Korean movies to world audiences.

CJ E&M set up a plan to be a leading global content firm by developing content closer to world audiences and securing global intellectual property rights. The company will start producing movies and distributing them in joint ventures with local partners in Southeast Asia. It will engage in broadcasting with local partners in foreign countries, along with the businesses like holding concerts and performances.

By 2020, CJ E&M plans to post 43 percent of its sales from overseas, up from the current 8.5 percent.