<p>The addition of abscisic acid (ABA) can increase the yield of mature Korean pine embryos. To clarify the physiological and molecular mechanism of the regulation of maturation of Korean pine somatic embryos by ABA, in this work, the effects of exogenous ABA (80 µmol L⁻¹) on the physiological characteristics and gene expression of Korean pine embryonic cells were compared and analyzed. The results showed that after the addition of ABA, the content of ascorbic acid in the cells increased significantly, the activity of glutathione reductase increased in advance, the activity of superoxide dismutase increased, the activities of ascorbic acid peroxidase, peroxidase and catalase enzyme decreased, and the time at which the hydrogen peroxide concentration peaked was delayed. At the same time, the level of endogenous ABA increased and the levels of auxin and cytokinin decreased. Comparative transcriptome sequence analysis of different mature culture times (7d and 14d) after addition of exogenous ABA (0, 80 µmol L⁻¹) showed that differentially expressed genes were mainly enriched in plant hormone signaling, ascorbic acid and aldehyde metabolism, etc. ABA has a significant impact on TFs related to somatic embryogenesis, upregulating transcription factors such as <i>WRKY</i> and <i>MYB</i>, while downregulating transcription factors such as <i>AP2/ERF-ER</i>. The results of this study provide valuable information for understanding the physiological and transcriptional characteristics of conifer somatic embryo development and maturation, for revealing the molecular mechanism of exogenous ABA regulation of somatic embryo maturation, and for optimizing Korean pine somatic embryo culture technology to improve somatic embryo yield.</p>