'Extramarital Child Controversy' Seo Jeong-jin, "I Sincerely Apologize... Criticism Should Be Directed Only at Me"

Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of the Celltrion Group, expressed his apology regarding the 'extramarital child allegations.'

Seo Jung-jin, Chairman of Celltrion Group, is speaking at an online press conference held last March.
[Photo by Celltrion]

On the 8th, Chairman Seo stated in a statement posted on the Celltrion website, "I sincerely apologize for causing great concern to our shareholders." He added, "Although not everything reported in the media recently may be true, my past foolish and reckless actions have caused you irreparable disappointment."

Chairman Seo recently became embroiled in allegations of extramarital children after it was revealed that in June of last year, the Seongnam branch of the Seoul Family Court ruled that Seo has two daughters in their 20s and teens who are his biological children. As a result of the court's decision, two daughters were added to Seo's family register alongside his existing sons, Seo Jin-seok, Chairman of the Board of Celltrion and Celltrion Pharm, and Seo Jun-seok, Chairman of the Board of Celltrion Healthcare. Additionally, two companies operated by the daughters' biological mother, Ms. A, were newly designated as affiliates of the Celltrion Group this year in accordance with relevant laws. This is because the daughters were legally recognized as Seo's children, and thus their biological mother was also classified as Seo's relative.

Regarding this, Ms. A stated that she first met Chairman Seo in July 2001 and maintained a de facto marital relationship, which ended in 2012 when Seo urged her to leave the country. Since then, she has taken legal action, claiming that Seo did not properly meet or fulfill his duties as a father to the two daughters. On the other hand, Seo claims that he tried to care for the daughters, but Ms. A was unfaithful, leading to the breakdown of their relationship. Despite having already paid 28.8 billion won in child support, Ms. A continued to demand large sums, prompting Seo to file a police complaint against her for extortion and defamation.

Chairman Seo said, "I will humbly accept any criticism without evasion," but also requested, "I ask that all criticism for my personal mistakes be directed solely at me." He especially appealed, "I kindly ask our shareholders to look upon the company with a generous heart so that the critical gaze does not fall on our employees who have silently devoted themselves to the company's development despite difficult circumstances."

Finally, Chairman Seo said, "I will do my best to fulfill the responsibilities entrusted to me by our shareholders until the end, ensuring that the company's value is not damaged, and I will live the rest of my life with a humble attitude, deeply reflecting on myself." He concluded, "Once again, I sincerely bow my head and apologize to our shareholders for causing concern with my personal shameful conduct."

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