Lim Jong-yoon's Side: "Korea-US Management Dispute Deepened After La D?fense Involvement in 2022"

The injunction lawsuit to prohibit the issuance of new shares related to the merger between OCI Holdings and Hanmi Science has yet to reach a conclusion even after the second hearing, amid which claims have been raised that the unprecedented management rights dispute began to intensify in 2022 following the death of the late Chairman Lim Seong-gi and the involvement of La D?fense.

On the 8th, President Lim Jong-yoon's side stated, “After the passing of the late Chairman Lim Seong-gi, in August 2020, Chairwoman Song Young-sook was appointed as the CEO of the holding company, and I, who had been a co-CEO of the holding company for 12 years, was excluded without any organizational structure,” adding, “Then, in March 2022, I was unilaterally notified that I could not be reappointed, and instead, an outside director recommended by La D?fense was appointed to that position.”

They also said, “At that time, President Lim Jong-yoon clearly expressed his opposition, but due to concerns about family conflicts becoming public, he ultimately had no choice but to accept it.”

Since then, President Lim Jong-yoon has lamented that he has been thoroughly excluded from all decision-making powers regarding business, finance, and personnel conducted by Hanmi. He stated that such actions constitute organizational exclusion and a disparagement of the CEO system as a management institution, which is a Korea discount case, and therefore correction is needed even at this stage.

In particular, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group was a research-focused company possessing mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) raw materials and production plants capable of global supply, but due to lacking LNP (lipid nanoparticle) technology, advanced mRNA production facilities, and patents, collaboration with overseas technology holders was urgently needed.

At that time, President Lim Jong-yoon proposed establishing an Asian vaccine production hub to the World Health Organization (WHO), which received positive evaluations. He also met with Dr. Robin from Cambridge, UK (founder of Vax Equity), to discuss Korea’s core production facility technologies. Dr. Robin is regarded as a UK mRNA authority who could replace the US Moderna vaccine.

President Lim Jong-yoon said, “I believed that securing joint development of pipelines and production facilities could make Korea a pharmaceutical powerhouse capable of competing with Moderna,” adding, “However, upon returning to Korea, the vaccine hub cooperation that I proposed and Hanmi Science was pursuing suddenly changed to a tripartite consultation involving Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Green Cross, and Dong-A ST, and a mutiny within the organization occurred. Ultimately, I was thoroughly excluded from all businesses including vaccine development, with cessation of human and material support, continuous direct and indirect obstruction, and demands for resignation.”

President Lim’s side stated, “In such circumstances, dismissing this by saying ‘he was not interested in the company,’ ‘he did not attend major meetings and focused solely on personal business’ is an act of reversing causality,” and added, “I feel this is something only experts would do.”

Above all, since the death of the former chairman and the start of management consulting by La D?fense to Chairwoman Song Young-sook, about 20 PhD-level executives from the major Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group have left, and the decision to transfer corporate management rights to a non-expert company in the pharmaceutical bio sector was passed solely by the resolution of four members of the Hanmi Science board. This point, regardless of procedural legitimacy, is morally a blatant disregard for the rights and interests of ordinary shareholders.

President Lim Jong-yoon’s side emphasized, “The late Chairman Lim Seong-gi was strongly committed to new drug development and also had a strong attachment to vaccines, having considered acquiring Dongshin Pharmaceutical, the predecessor of the current SK Bioscience. Had he been alive, he would have either developed a COVID vaccine independently or acquired the technology during the pandemic,” and added, “Now, even with the help of the law, we plan to focus on growth for the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group and its shareholders by establishing the legacy of a K-bio company with a 50-year tradition.”

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