A Bio Materials Launches Plant-Derived Exosome Inner-Beauty Brand in Vietnam The global beauty industry is increasingly expanding beyond topical cosmetics into “inner beauty,” a category often described as ingestible beauty products. Industry observers say the inner-beauty market is being reshaped quickly around functional ingredients and biotechnology. Against that backdrop, South Korean biomaterials company A Bio Materials is moving into Southeast Asia. The company partnered with food brand NOWLAB and Vietnamese distributor OMB GROUP to introduce the inner-beauty April 23, 2026

Fashion mogul Park Sun-ho’s rise from poverty to 1 trillion won in sales and 40 billion won in giving Park Sun-ho, known as South Korea’s “fashion king” for building a major fashion group from nothing, shared his life story on television, including his rise in business and decades of philanthropy. On the April 22 broadcast of EBS’ “Seo Jang-hoon’s Next-Door Millionaire,” the program traced Park’s path from poverty to business success. Born the fourth of seven children in a poor family, he said he struggled even to eat as a child. Unable to attend middle school, he began farm work at 14 to April 23, 2026

South Korea watchdog refers executives to prosecutors over alleged sham sale, hidden debt South Korea’s financial authorities said they have uncovered alleged unfair trading by executives at a listed company during a push to split and relist the firm, and have referred the case to prosecutors. The Financial Services Commission’s Securities and Futures Commission said Thursday it decided at its 8th regular meeting on April 22 to file a criminal complaint against four people, including executives of Company A, for alleged violations of the Capital Markets Act’s ban on fraudulen April 23, 2026

KOSPI Slips After Brief Record High as Foreign Selling Intensifies; KOSDAQ Also Falls After opening above 6,500 and setting an intraday record high, South Korea’s benchmark KOSPI turned lower on April 23 as foreign investors stepped up selling. According to the Korea Exchange, the KOSPI was down 47.63 points, or 0.74%, at 6,370.30 as of 12:23 p.m., compared with the previous session. The index opened up 70.90 points, or 1.10%, at 6,488.83 and extended gains on institutional buying before reversing course. In the main board market, individuals and foreigners were net selle April 23, 2026

Reuters: DeepSeek Seeks First Outside Funding at Valuation Above $20 Billion Chinese AI startup DeepSeek, which has previously ruled out outside funding, is now seeking its first external capital, according to reports. Reuters reported on April 22 (local time) that Tencent and Alibaba are discussing potential investments in DeepSeek. The Information, citing multiple sources, said DeepSeek is pursuing its first outside funding round based on a valuation above $20 billion. Reuters said the valuation and the amount to be raised could change because talks are ongoing. April 23, 2026

South Korean envoy meets Iran foreign minister, stresses importance of ties Jeong Byeong-ha, a special envoy of South Korea’s foreign minister, met with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi in Tehran, Iran’s Foreign Ministry said. According to the ministry, the meeting took place on the afternoon of April 22 local time. Jeong conveyed greetings from South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and said it was very important to strengthen South Korea-Iran relations. He also welcomed the ceasefire and said he hoped diplomatic efforts wo April 23, 2026

South Korea Proposes Tax Breaks for National Growth Fund, Including 40% Deduction The government is moving to spell out tax support for a public-participation “National Growth Fund,” offering up to a 40% income deduction and a separate 9% low tax rate on eligible investments. The Ministry of Economy and Finance said on the 23rd it will issue a legislative notice for amendments to subordinate regulations, including the Enforcement Decree of the Restriction of Special Taxation Act, to introduce a tax preference for the fund. The notice period runs from April 24 to May 15 April 23, 2026

LG Electronics CEO Ryu Jae-cheol vows push into global robot actuator market Ryu Jae-cheol, CEO of LG Electronics, said the company will accelerate efforts to secure an early lead in the actuator market, a key component that functions as a robot’s joints. In a social media post on the 23rd, Ryu said, “This year, we plan to complete the buildout of a mass-production system for actuators and apply them directly to the intelligent home robot ‘LG Cloi.’” He added, “Next year, we will supply key components to global partners and move in earnest into ext April 23, 2026

Shinhan Financial Q1 Net Profit Rises 9% to 1.62 Trillion Won on Strong Non-Interest Income Shinhan Financial Group posted another record quarterly result, reporting first-quarter net profit of more than 1.6 trillion won as strong brokerage performance and a sharp rise in non-interest income lifted earnings. In a regulatory filing Thursday, Shinhan Financial said first-quarter net profit rose 9.0% from a year earlier to 1.6226 trillion won. Operating profit increased as net interest income stayed solid and non-interest income, led by securities, improved markedly. Net April 23, 2026

Dalba Global Shares Rise Nearly 8% on Buyback Plan and Strong Q1 Outlook Dalba Global shares climbed in intraday trading on April 23, buoyed by expectations that a planned share buyback and cancellation will boost shareholder value and by forecasts of strong first-quarter results. According to the Korea Exchange, Dalba Global was trading at 230,000 won as of 1:47 p.m., up 17,000 won, or 7.98%, from the previous session. The company said the previous day it will acquire about 20 billion won worth of its own shares through a trust contract to enhance shareholde April 23, 2026