The Fifth Floor: Are Korean beauty products too light?
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.6K Ratings
🗓️ 1 March 2025
⏱️ 27 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Korean skincare industry is booming around the world, but some brands faced backlash because of the lack of products for people with darker skin tones. Korean journalist Soo Min Kim looked into how companies responded and spoke to the influencers driving this change. Plus, can radio help save a farmer's livelihood? Boyd Chibale from BBC Media Action in Zambia talks about the work they've done to help local communities cope with droughts and power cuts; and the art of balancing rocks, as filmed by video journalist Shardul Kadam who worked on this story for BBC Marathi.
Presented by Faranak Amidi. Produced by Alice Gioia, Caroline Ferguson and Hannah Dean.
(Photo: Faranak Amidi. Credit: Tricia Yourkevich.)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:07.7 | This is the fifth floor. |
| 0:11.5 | The fifth floor, you knowsson. |
| 0:15.6 | This is the fifth floor at Farnak Amidi Sobath. This is the fifth floor at the heart of global storytelling with BBC journalists from all around the world. |
| 0:29.0 | I'm your host, Faranak Amidi. |
| 0:36.9 | Here on the fifth floor, we often talk about South Korea and its most successful exports, K-Drama and K-pop. |
| 0:44.9 | In recent years, another powerful industry has emerged, Korean beauty products. |
| 0:50.6 | From moisturizers to makeup, Korean brands have expanded across the world and found |
| 0:56.8 | very profitable markets in Southeast Asia, North America, and Africa. But when they started |
| 1:04.1 | expanding outside of South Korea, some of these brands faced a backlash. Why? Well, some of their products did not match the skin |
| 1:13.5 | tone of their new clients, and they had to rush to find solutions. Korean journalist, |
| 1:19.4 | Sue Min Kim, has been reporting on this story, and she's here in the studio with me. Welcome, |
| 1:23.8 | Sue. Hi, Faranak. Thank you for having me. It's great to have you. |
| 1:28.5 | Really excited to be here. |
| 1:31.3 | So, you know, you grew up in South Korea. |
| 1:37.3 | So I assume that you were very familiar with Korean beauty products. |
| 1:39.8 | Was it a big thing when you were growing up? |
| 1:41.3 | I mean, yes, definitely. |
| 1:48.0 | I mean, growing up in Korea where taking care of your skin is kind of ingrained in the culture. It has been part of me since a young age. |
| 1:51.3 | So what do you think it's so special about Korean products? |
| 1:56.7 | What makes them different? |
| 1:58.2 | Korean skincare is known for its innovation and high-quality natural ingredients that usually promotes, you know, this youthful, healthy, glowing skin. |
... |
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