Ourhome Union Criticizes Gubonseong's Demand for General Meeting... "Shaking Management Stability"

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Eun-mo] Former Ourhome Vice Chairman Koo Bon-seong requested the convening of an extraordinary general meeting on the 25th to appoint 48 new directors at Ourhome. Following the company’s stance, the labor union also expressed criticism.

The Ourhome union, affiliated with the Korean Federation of Food Industry Unions under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, issued a statement on the 28th saying, "We strongly condemn the owner who threatens the survival rights of workers."

The union pointed out, "Due to former Vice Chairman Koo’s involvement in management, the company recorded its first-ever deficit since its founding in 2020, and the damage was directly passed on to the workers. Nevertheless, the owner family took dividends exceeding 70 billion won." It added, "(Former Vice Chairman Koo) drove workers, who were struggling due to COVID-19, to the brink by terminating contracts, forcing unpaid leave, and mandating the use of annual leave," and criticized, "As a company representative, he caused enormous damage to the company and workers through unimaginable retaliatory actions." The union emphasized, "We will never tolerate situations that shake the company’s management stability."

Earlier, Ourhome also criticized Koo’s request to convene an extraordinary general meeting and demands for board reorganization as an "unjustified attempt to return to management." Ourhome stated, "Former Vice Chairman Koo claimed he requested the extraordinary general meeting to ensure a rational sale process because the company did not cooperate with the sale of shares, but this is not true," and added, "We have repeatedly conveyed our willingness to cooperate with the share sale process once appropriate basic documents such as proxies are confirmed."

Ourhome is a company where the founder, former Chairman Koo Ja-hak’s one son and three daughters hold more than 98% of the total shares. Former Vice Chairman Koo holds 38.6% of the shares, and the combined shares of the three sisters, Mihyun, Myungjin, and Jieun, amount to 59.6%.

Former Vice Chairman Koo was dismissed after losing a management rights dispute with his three younger sisters in June last year. Earlier this year, he was sued by the company on charges of embezzlement and breach of trust, and since then, he has been pushing for a joint sale of the 58.62% shares held by himself and his sister Mihyun.

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