Chairman Song Young-sook: "Nothing Has Changed... We Will Revisit Development Plans for Hanmi Pharm"

"Sorry for the failure to finalize the integration
Just taking a slight detour, let's continue on the path unchanged"
Message conveyed to employees via group company bulletin board

Song Young-sook, Chairwoman of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group, stated, "Nothing has changed at Hanmi," and expressed her intention to "find ways to preserve and develop Hanmi, the prestigious new drug company."

Song Young-sook, Chairwoman of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group [Photo by Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group]

On the 29th, through a post on the group’s bulletin board, Chairwoman Song conveyed a message to employees, saying, "I am sorry as the integration did not reach final completion as the chairwoman," and urged, "Let’s continue on the path we must take, even if it moves a bit slowly."

After her husband, founder Lim Sung-ki, suddenly passed away in 2020, Song rose to the position of chairwoman and has been leading the group. While contemplating how to resolve the inheritance tax of 540 billion KRW incurred due to share inheritance, she proposed incorporating Hanmi Science into OCI Group’s intermediate holding company in January and using the funds secured through this to pay the inheritance tax. Her daughter, Lim Joo-hyun, Vice Chairwoman of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group, agreed with this plan, but her sons, Lim Jong-yoon and Lim Jong-hoon, directors of Hanmi Science, opposed it, leading to a management dispute.

However, at the regular shareholders’ meeting of Hanmi Science, the group’s holding company, held on the 28th, only the five directors recommended by the brothers were appointed, allowing the brothers to take control of the board. The Hanmi Science board now consists of five directors from the brothers’ side and four from the mother and daughter’s side, giving the brothers the majority. The brothers are expected to hold a board meeting soon to cancel the integration of the two groups. OCI Group stated, "We humbly accept the shareholders’ will," and announced that "the integration process will be halted."

The "51st Hanmi Science Annual General Meeting" held at Syntex in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 28th is delayed past the scheduled start time of 9 a.m. due to the time taken to count the onsite proxy votes. Photo by Jin-Hyung Kang aymsdream@

Regarding the series of events, Chairwoman Song said, "After the passing of former Chairman Lim Sung-ki, we pursued integration as the best way to preserve and develop the DNA of Hanmi, the prestigious new drug company," and expressed gratitude to the employees for their efforts over the past two months. She added, "With many new board members joining, employees may feel somewhat confused," but as chairwoman, I assure you that nothing has changed at Hanmi," she emphasized.

Finally, Chairwoman Song said, "The difficult circumstances that led to the integration proposal remain unchanged," and "the management and the newly formed board will work together to find ways to preserve and develop Hanmi, the prestigious new drug company."