Hong Won-sik, Chairman of Namyang Dairy Products, to Issue Public Apology Tomorrow for 'Bulgaris Incident'

Hong Won-sik, Chairman of Namyang Dairy Products

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Hong Won-sik, chairman of Namyang Dairy Products, will issue a public apology regarding the recent controversy caused by the announcement that its dairy product Bulgari has an inhibitory effect on the novel coronavirus.

Namyang Dairy Products announced on the 3rd that Chairman Hong is scheduled to make a statement at 10 a.m. on the 4th at the company's main auditorium. It is known that Chairman Hong will apologize for the recent controversy at this event.

On the 13th of last month, Namyang Dairy Products claimed at the symposium "Development of Antiviral Foods in the COVID-19 Era," hosted by the Korea Institute of Medical Science, that the Bulgari product reduced COVID-19 by 77.8%.

After this announcement, Bulgari products sold out in large supermarkets, and the stock price surged rapidly.

In response, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency stated, "To confirm the preventive or therapeutic effects of a specific food on COVID-19, human subject research must be conducted," adding, "Since the mechanism of removing the virus in the human body was not verified, it is difficult to predict whether there is an actual effect."

Consumers, angered by marketing that exploited the COVID-19 crisis, launched a boycott against Namyang Dairy Products, continuing criticism since the so-called "agency power abuse incident" in 2013.

Additionally, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety filed a complaint against Namyang Dairy Products for violating the Food Labeling and Advertising Act, and on the 30th of last month, the police conducted raids on six locations including Namyang Dairy Products' headquarters and Sejong Research Institute to begin an investigation.

In response, Namyang Dairy Products CEO Lee Kwang-beom sent an internal email to employees on the morning of the 3rd, expressing his intention to take responsibility and resign. CEO Lee said, "I deeply apologize to all employees for the distressing events related to the recent Bulgari reports," and added, "I conveyed my intention to resign from the beginning of this incident, and I will take full responsibility and step down according to the procedures."

He also added, "It is very regrettable that the limitations of the research were not clearly communicated during the process of announcing meaningful scientific research results, which caused misunderstandings and controversy."

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Hong Jin-sung, executive director and eldest son of Chairman Hong, was dismissed from his position after allegations arose last month that he used a luxury imported car rented with company funds for personal purposes such as taking his children to school.

Namyang Dairy Products is currently investigating the facts regarding the allegations of embezzlement of company funds by Executive Director Hong.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.