Hanmi Group: "Chairwoman Song Youngsook Did Not Use Corporate Card for Personal Purposes... Taking Legal Action"

"Incomplete Data Exported Without Proper Procedure"

Hanmi Group has refuted allegations raised by some media outlets concerning Chairwoman Song Youngsook’s alleged personal use of a corporate card, stating that “the card was used appropriately for the purposes of group management and administration.”

On July 31, Hanmi Group released a statement saying, “A person lacking knowledge of internal affairs deliberately acquired and distorted materials through illegal means with the aim of defaming a particular individual, and then brought these accusations to the media,” adding, “We will respond strictly in accordance with the relevant laws.”

Hanmi Pharmaceutical R&D Center, Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province. Hanmi Pharmaceutical

The group continued, “Chairwoman Song used the budget appropriately for management and group operations both during her tenure as CEO and after her resignation. The data cited in the article is incomplete, as it does not reflect subsequent cost recoveries or payment cancellations.”

Hanmi Group further explained, “Every year, prior to major holidays, we purchased gift sets for around 100 executives and key clients across the group,” clarifying, “The claim that Chairwoman Song used the budget to buy luxury goods for herself is untrue.”

Regarding expenses related to medical institutions and overseas business trips, the group stated, “Chairwoman Song has been receiving regular treatment for a chronic knee joint condition. Overseas trips were also legitimate business trips for key client management, network building, global social responsibility initiatives, and market research.”

The group added, “Neither last year’s National Tax Service audit of Hanmi Science nor the audit of Hanmi Pharmaceutical the year before resulted in any taxation on Chairwoman Song for corporate card use unrelated to business.”

Hanmi Group also remarked, “It appears that the individual who leaked the materials illegally extracted certain data from the company’s systems outside of normal procedures. We deeply regret that there is a clear malicious intent behind supplying such materials to the media, apparently with the specific goal of attacking the Hanmi Group founder and family.”

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