The management conflict between Hanmi Science, the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group holding company, and Lim Jong-yoon, the eldest son of the late founder and president of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, is deepening.

After Hanmi Science criticized Lim, the latter hit back.

"Hanmi Pharm's public relations team claims that I oppose the Hanmi-OCI merger to maintain my mortgage loan by boosting Hanmi Pharm’s stock price,” Lim said. “However, Chairwoman Song Young-sook and her three children, including myself, face the same obligation to pay huge inheritance taxes. So, the PR team’s statement that Lim Jong-yoon uses Hanmi for personal purposes is deeply misleading and defamatory."

Lim said it is Chairwoman Song and President Lim Joo-hyun who use the Hanmi Pharmaceutical Group as a tool for selfish exploitation.

"There are talks that another would-be acquirer has offered more than double the price than OCI did,” Lim said. “The only management premium at this time is the guarantee of Lim Joo-hyun’s majority shareholder status in OCI.”

Lim then pointed out that the decision to merge with the OCI Group ignores the rights and interests of more than 40,000 Hanmi shareholders.

He also maintained that the group cultural foundation’s decision to sell the family's stake in Hanmi Science due to debt overload was largely because of the debt accumulated by Chairwoman Song's excessive construction of a photography museum, which is another evidence of self-interested management.

In response to Hanmi Science's claims that his stock mortgage loan was excessive, Lim responded, "The stock loan, which was misleadingly inflated, was used for the bio-healthcare business. As with all businesses, there have been various investments that have experienced failures and successes since the establishment of the COREE Group in 2009, and I can answer the rumors by saying that we have built a business with an enterprise value of more than 1 trillion won ($750 million) today.

He added that the interest on the stock loan can be financed through the business of COREE Group.

In response to criticism that he paid the least inheritance tax among the founding family members, Lim said, "The three siblings were subject to a similar amount of inheritance tax and have paid about 52 billion won by 2023. Hanmi Science's criticism has the potential for serious defamation as it could be understood as if I delayed the inheritance tax payment and used the deal to avoid paying it."

Lim went on to say, "I look forward to the wise judgment of our shareholders, customers, and employees, and do my best to develop new drugs and achieve the banner of a pharmaceutical bureau. At the same time, I will solidify Hanmi Science's position as a holding company, continue to inherit the late founder’s legacy, Hanmi's history of new drug development based on its tradition and innovation, and move forward unwaveringly for the next 100 years."