Hanmi Science Applies to Court for Temporary Shareholders' Meeting Approval of Hanmi Pharm

Hanmi Science, the holding company of Hanmi Pharm Group, announced on the 2nd that it has applied to the court for permission to convene an extraordinary general meeting of Hanmi Pharm shareholders.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This application came just two days after Hanmi Science proposed an extraordinary general meeting with agenda items including the dismissal of Park Jae-hyun, CEO of Hanmi Pharm, and Shin Dong-guk, Chairman of Hanyang Precision, from their director positions at Hanmi Pharm. Hanmi Science explained, "We aim to faithfully perform the holding company's fundamental role and purpose of maintaining smooth collaboration and balanced relationships among all affiliates, thereby ensuring the best possible management."

Hanmi Pharm opposed, suggesting that this might be a unilateral decision by Lim Jong-hoon, CEO of Hanmi Science. Hanmi Pharm pointed out, "The application for permission to hold an extraordinary general meeting is an important business execution matter that requires a resolution by the board of directors under the Commercial Act," adding, "Hanmi Science's board regulations clearly stipulate that important lawsuits against major subsidiaries, such as director dismissals, require board resolutions." They further stated, "The extraordinary general meeting of Hanmi Pharm held in May was conducted after going through the Hanmi Science board resolution process," and "If the CEO of Hanmi Science applied for permission to hold the extraordinary general meeting unilaterally without a board resolution, this could raise procedural legitimacy issues, so we ask for efforts to resolve this first."

If the court accepts Hanmi Science's application, the management dispute within the Hanmi Pharm Group, ongoing since early this year, is expected to intensify again. Currently, Shin Dong-guk, Chairman of Hanyang Precision, Song Young-sook, Chairwoman of Hanmi Pharm Group, and Vice Chairman Lim Joo-hyun are advocating for a transition to a professional management system at Hanmi Science and are in conflict with Lim Jong-yoon, inside director of Hanmi Science, and Lim Jong-hoon, CEO of Hanmi Science.