Chairman Suh Kyung-bae bows on the stage to thank for the Industrial Merit Gold Tower Medal, the highest medal awarded to civilians in Korea, that he won for AmorePacific’s outstanding exports of its beauty products in tandem with the rising popularity of Hallyu, a Korean-style entertainment around the world.

Chairman Suh Kyung-bae of AmorePacific is expected to have another record year, as AmorePacific continues to grow at a great pace. The country’s largest cosmetics maker, which has global brands such as Sulwhasoo and Laneige, is expected to reach the milestone of $200 million in exports this year, a first for the Korean cosmetics producer, according to the firm.

In recognition of the achievement, the chairman, who has turned his family’s small cosmetics business into a household name in the cosmetics industry in Korea, was presented with the Industrial Merit Gold Tower Order Medal by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on Dec. 7 

“The cosmetics industry, previously made up of small-scale household businesses, has become one of the top export industries today in Korea,” Suh said after getting the gold medal during a ceremony commemorating the 52nd Trade Day. 

“AmorePacific has led the globalization of Korean beauty products and grown as a major company in the world’s beauty market by diversifying its brands and distribution channels,” he added. 

Since 2011, the group’s exports have risen by more than 30 percent every year, hitting $182.52 million this year by October.

Analysts said Suh has been playing a crucial role in riding the K-beauty boom — largely driven by China and Southeast Asia — partly due to the rising popularity of Korean entertainment and culture. 

Forbes selected Suh as Forbes Asia’s 2015 Businessman of the Year, saying: “The sudden rise of Suh and his company is inseparable from the success of South Korea itself. Korean popular culture has come to define what is sexy, cool and fashionable throughout East Asia.” 

Such success has turned the chairman into the country’s second-richest person, after Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee. According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire Index, Suh’s total wealth reached $8.5 billion, up 55.7 percent from the beginning of the year. 

In 2014, AmorePacific’s net income climbed 36 percent to a record 222.4 billion won ($204 million), with total sales rising 21 percent to 4.7 trillion won, a sevenfold increase from 1997, when Suh took over from his late father, Suh Sung-whan, the founder of the cosmetics firm.

President Park Geun-hye personally presents the Industrial Merit Gold Tower Medal to Chairman Suh Kyung-bae of AmorePacific for his incomparable role in exporting the company’s beauty products around the world.(Photos:Amore Pacific)