Tearful Resignation? Namyang's Hong Won-sik Retains Chairman Position... Both Sons Also Receive Salaries

Hong Won-sik, Chairman of Namyang Dairy Products, Listed as Full-time Executive
Received 808 Million Won in Compensation in First Half of This Year
Both Sons Still Active, Eldest Son Returned After One Month

Hong Won-sik, chairman of Namyang Dairy Products, is holding a public apology press conference related to the 'Bulgaris incident' at Namyang Dairy Products headquarters in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 4th. Last month, Namyang Dairy Products announced at the 'Symposium on Developing Antiviral Foods in the COVID-19 Era' that the Bulgaris product was confirmed to reduce COVID-19 by 77.8%. However, the research results were revealed to have exaggerated the findings from animal 'cell-level' experiments, causing controversy. In response, Hong Won-sik, chairman of Namyang Dairy Products, expressed his intention to resign at the public apology press conference on the same day. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] It has been confirmed that Hong Won-sik, chairman of Namyang Dairy Products, who officially announced his resignation last May, is still maintaining his position as chairman. Hong Jin-seok, the eldest son and executive director who was suspended in April due to allegations of embezzlement of company funds, was reinstated as executive director in charge of strategic planning on May 26, one day before the sale announcement. The second son, Hong Beom-seok, head of the food service business division, was promoted to an unregistered executive (deputy executive director).

According to Namyang Dairy Products' semi-annual report on the 19th, Chairman Hong Won-sik is still listed as a full-time executive. He also received 808 million won in compensation in the first half of this year. It is also known that he is still using the chairman's office.

Chairman Hong resigned from his position on May 4, taking responsibility for the so-called 'Bulgaris incident' and stated that he would not pass on management rights to his children. Namyang Dairy Products faced criticism for misleading consumers with unverified claims after announcing in April that Bulgaris was effective in preventing COVID-19.

Regarding this, a Namyang Dairy Products official said, "The contract states that the payment completion date for the sale transaction is August 31, and there will be changes regarding executives after that."

It has been revealed that Chairman Hong's two sons are still receiving salaries from the company. Executive Director Hong Jin-seok was reinstated as executive director in charge of strategic planning on May 26, one day before the sale announcement. The second son, Hong Beom-seok, head of the food service business division, was promoted to an unregistered executive (deputy executive director) on the same day. The official said, "It is true that Executive Director Hong Jin-seok was reinstated."

Some are raising doubts about the sincerity of the Hong family regarding the sale. Former Chairman Hong and the Namyang Dairy Products owner family signed an SPA with Hahn & Company on May 27. The transaction amount is 310.7 billion won. However, Chairman Hong did not appear at the shareholders' meeting to finalize the sale process, and Namyang Dairy Products announced that the extraordinary shareholders' meeting has been postponed to September 14. This has led to speculation that the Hong family might be trying to cancel the sale contract. In response, Chairman Hong sent a statement to some media outlets saying, "Claims of sale failure, conflict, and no-show are completely unfounded."

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