Hanmi Pharmaceutical makes leadership reshuffle with no family succession

Park Jae-hyun, new chief executive officer of Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. [Photo provided by Hanmi Pharmaceutical]

Hanmi Pharmaceutical Co. has made changes to its leadership structure with no signal of generational succession in the family business.

Park Jae-hyun, head of manufacturing, was appointed as the new chief executive officer of the Korean pharmaceutical company, while CEO Woo Jong-soo, President Kwon Se-chang and Vice Chairman Lee Kwan-soon stepped down to serve as advisors.

But re-seating Lim Jong-hoon, the second son of Hanmi Pharm’s founding owner, on the board was not on the shareholder meeting’s agenda, leaving the process of handing over control to the second generation unclear.

Hanmi Pharmaceutical Wednesday held its annual shareholders’ meeting and appointed Park as the new CEO. Park started his career at the company in 1993 as a drug formulation researcher and has since held various positions including executive director and managing director.

Meanwhile, Hanmi Science Co., the parent of Hanmi Pharmaceutical, renamed Chairman Song Young-sook as the CEO, while Park Joon-seok, vice president of Hanmi Science’s healthcare business unit, was appointed as an internal director.

Hanmi Science restructured its management under the leadership of Song, with Shin Yu-chul appointed as the new board chairman.

The most notable aspect in this year’s shareholder meeting is that the reappointment of Lim as an internal director of Hanmi Pharmaceutical was not tabled during the session. The second son of the late group founder Lim Sung-ki, had led the pharmaceutical company since 2021.

With Lim’s departure, the only remaining second-generation member on the board is the eldest son Lim Jong-yoon, who is also the CEO of Hanmi Pharmaceutical. However, even he has lost some influence after stepping down from the CEO position at Hanmi Science last year.

Earlier in 2021, Lim Ju-hyun, the daughter of the late founder, also stepped down from the board of both Hanmi Science and Hanmi Pharmaceutical.