Hanmi Pharm CEO Park Jae-hyun, who retained his position after a shareholder vote at Thursday’s extraordinary general meeting, urged Hanmi Science to withdraw lawsuits and criminal complaints against the company.

“The starting point for normalizing operations is the voluntary withdrawal of several self-destructive lawsuits filed by the holding company against the business. If the holding company voluntarily withdraws, I am also willing to withdraw the lawsuits I have filed,” Park said at a press briefing held at the Seoul Transportation Center following the meeting. 

Park’s remarks came after Hanmi Science, led by the “brother faction” of Director Lim Jong-yoon and CEO Lim Jong-hoon, filed eight complaints against Park and Hanmi Pharm ahead of the meeting. Park described the lawsuits as “groundless” and called for a “reasonable resolution.”

At the extraordinary general meeting, shareholders rejected a motion proposed by Hanmi Science to dismiss CEO Park and Hanyang Precision Chairman Shin Dong-guk. The vote results showed 53.62 percent in favor and 46.32 percent against Park's dismissal, while 53.64 percent supported and 46.30 percent opposed Shin's removal. However, the motions failed to meet the necessary requirements for approval, which include at least two-thirds support from shares present and one-third from total outstanding shares.

Out of the 10,219,107 shares with voting rights (representing an attendance rate of 80.59 percent), 96.34 percent were held by CEO Park, excluding shares owned by Hanmi Science. The total number of shares with voting rights at the meeting was 12,682,214, with an attendance rate of 80.59 percent.

The brother faction’s plan to remove key executives from the “mother-daughter faction,” represented by Hanmi Science Chairwoman Song Young-sook and Vice Chairwoman Lim Ju-hyun, was blocked at the meeting. This nullified proposals to appoint allies, including Hanmi Science Vice President Park Joon-seok and Hanmi Fine Chemical CEO Chang Young-kil, as directors. 

“We do not want to break the cooperative relationship with Hanmi Science,” Park said, emphasizing that recent personnel changes in HR and legal teams at Hanmi Pharm in August were “necessary but insufficient” for independent management.

The family feud over management control, ongoing for nearly a year, is expected to escalate again at the regular shareholders’ meeting in March 2025.

The dispute remains unresolved, with Hanmi Science’s board split evenly at 5-5. However, the four-party alliance, which holds nearly 49 percent of voting rights through share purchases, is optimistic about changing the outcome at the March meeting, as the brother faction’s shareholdings decline.

“Despite the family dispute, Hanmi Pharm’s performance has been strong, and our R&D capabilities remain intact,” Park said, expressing confidence in the company’s growth under a professional management system modeled on global leaders like Merck.

He also reaffirmed the company’s goal of achieving 5 trillion won ($3.5 billion) in revenue within the next decade and promised to present more shareholder-friendly policies at the March meeting.