Chairman Hong Won-sik Sweats Under Criticism from Ruling and Opposition Parties... "I Was Not Briefed in Advance on the 'Bulgaris Incident'"

Hong Won-sik, Chairman of Namyang Dairy Products, attended the National Assembly's audit on the Fair Trade Commission held by the National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee on the 5th and responded to questions from lawmakers. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] On the 8th, both ruling and opposition parties directed sharp criticism at Hong Won-sik, chairman of Namyang Dairy Products, who appeared as a witness at the Health and Welfare Committee’s national audit, regarding the so-called 'Bulgaris incident.' Chairman Hong responded, "I was not informed in advance."

During the audit, Chairman Hong was questioned about the controversy over exaggerated advertising claims that Namyang Dairy Products’ Bulgaris product has a COVID-19 suppression effect. In April, Namyang Dairy Products held a symposium presenting findings that Bulgaris has a COVID-19 suppression effect. Following this, Bulgaris products experienced shortages in large supermarkets, and the stock price surged sharply. Consequently, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety filed a complaint for exaggerated advertising, and a boycott movement arose, leading to the decision to sell Namyang Dairy Products.

Regarding this, Baek Jong-heon, a member of the People Power Party, asked, "There was hoarding of Bulgaris products, and the stock price surged by 29.68% after the related announcement. Were you completely unaware of this beforehand?" Chairman Hong replied, "I was completely unaware of such matters and only learned about it through a report the day after the announcement."

Baek further questioned, "Do you agree that the announcement claiming Bulgaris has a COVID-19 suppression effect was deceptive and mocked the public?" Chairman Hong bowed his head and said, "I apologize." When asked if he believed Bulgaris has a preventive effect against COVID-19, he answered, "No."

Baek criticized, "Regarding the symposium, the information was distributed to 688 media outlets in advance, which strongly suggests an intention to promote Bulgaris as having a COVID-19 preventive effect." Chairman Hong countered, "This is the first time I am hearing about this here. I do not understand it well, and it was absolutely not intended as promotion."

Chairman Hong explained that the symposium was merely to inform about research results and was not intended to promote Bulgaris as suppressing COVID-19.

Questions also followed regarding allegations that Namyang Dairy Products forced female employees to sign a ‘Pregnancy Waiver’ upon hiring.

At the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s national audit on the 6th, former Namyang Dairy Products advertising team leader Choi testified, stating, "Female employees were required to sign a pregnancy waiver upon hiring," and claimed that she faced retaliation after taking parental leave. She joined Namyang Dairy Products’ advertising team as an assistant manager in 2002 and returned after taking parental leave in 2015. However, after returning, she was assigned to logistics control tasks unrelated to her career and was transferred to regional offices in Cheonan, Chungnam, and Goyang, Gyeonggi, alleging personnel disadvantages, which sparked controversy.

In response, Go Min-jung, a member of the Democratic Party, pressured Chairman Hong by playing a recording containing his remarks such as "Make the work tough," "Make it unbearable," and "Make them feel no sense of reward." Chairman Hong replied, "I do not know the context, but the recording is not related to parental leave."

When asked about the appropriateness of assigning former advertising team leader Choi to the logistics team after parental leave, Chairman Hong said, "I believe the HR team judged that placing personnel in the right positions was best and issued the personnel transfer to the logistics team accordingly."

Chairman Hong strongly denied the claim that a pregnancy waiver was forced. He emphasized repeatedly, "That is absolutely not true. I have confirmed again, and such a thing never happened."

Throughout the day, Chairman Hong repeatedly apologized in response to criticism from ruling and opposition lawmakers. Independent lawmaker Lee Yong-ho pointed out, "You said you would not pass on management rights to your children, yet you reinstated your eldest son as executive director." Chairman Hong replied, "I said I would not pass on management rights, but since he has worked at Namyang Dairy Products for decades, I reinstated him."

When Lee criticized, "Because of the witness, public health is being harmed," Chairman Hong bowed and said, "I apologize and will step down once the sale process is completed."

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