DHC's CEO called Koreans a slur — the next year his brand left the Korean market

DHC Corporation is a Japanese direct-marketing cosmetics company founded in 1972 by Yoshiaki Yoshida. By 2020 it was one of Japan's best-known skincare brands, selling supplements, cosmetics and skincare products through mail order and retail in several Asian markets including South Korea. The brand had a significant following in Korea for its olive oil and collagen lines.

In November 2020, Yoshida posted a message on the company website attacking rival Suntory Beverage & Food. He used the pejorative term 'Chon' — a slur for Korean people — to mock Suntory for employing Japanese celebrities with Korean heritage in its advertisements. He claimed DHC employed only 'pure Japanese' staff and suggested that Korean-Japanese people should go back to Korea. It was not his first such remark: in 2016 he had described Korean residents in Japan as 'pseudo-Japanese' and suggested they return to South Korea.

The post triggered a boycott. Korean retailers stopped stocking DHC products, and Japanese consumers shared the hashtag 'I no longer buy products from discriminatory DHC.' DHC told Japanese media they had 'no particular response' to the backlash. On 10 September 2021, DHC announced it would close its South Korean operations and cease online sales. The brand had been present in Korea for years and had a loyal customer base, but the controversy had made the market untenable.

Two years later, in 2023, DHC was acquired by Orix Corporation in a leveraged buyout valued at about ¥400 billion ($2.6 billion). Yoshida briefly remained as chairman but resigned by the end of 2023 after another controversy involving nationalist remarks. The Korea exit was not the sole cause of the acquisition, but the reputational damage from the xenophobia controversy contributed to the brand's loss of value. A brand built on health and natural beauty had been damaged by its founder's nationalism.