Naver Denies Allegations of Evaluation Gains Using Lee Hae-jin's Non-public Information as "Not True"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Naver has denied allegations that it gained hundreds of billions in valuation profits using undisclosed information from Lee Hae-jin, Naver founder and Global Investment Officer (GIO).

On the 3rd, Naver released a statement titled ‘Naver Owner Lee Hae-jin’s Company ‘Jieum’ Alleged to Have Gained Hundreds of Billions in Valuation Profits Using Undisclosed Information’ denying the claims.

On the same day, a media outlet raised suspicions that Lee’s personal company, Jieum, used undisclosed information about Naver and Daewoong Pharmaceutical establishing Danawa Data to acquire Daewoong shares and gain valuation profits.

Naver rebutted, stating, "Jieum acquired Daewoong shares several years before the establishment of Danawa Data." They added, "Considering the time gap between Danawa Data’s establishment and Jieum’s investment in Daewoong shares, it should be assessed whether Jieum had prior knowledge of Danawa Data’s establishment when investing."

They also explained that Daewoong’s stock price movement was unrelated to Danawa Data’s establishment. In fact, on November 13, 2018, when Danawa Data was established, and on March 15, 2019, when the corporation’s establishment was announced, Daewoong’s closing price showed no significant change from the previous day.

However, the value of Daewoong shares held by Jieum rose from approximately 51.2 billion KRW in early 2019 to 144.8 billion KRW by the end of 2020. A Naver official explained, "The stock price increase was due to factors unrelated to the establishment of Danawa Data."

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