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Case file s1102 · Science and medicine · 2020
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2020
Map of South Korea, marked on the globe
Map of South Korea. Ksiom. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
2 August 2020
Place
Seoul, South Korea
Field
pharmaceuticals (Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Hanmi Science) · Business and finance on the timeline
Legal tradition
Korean inheritance tax and Commercial Act (shareholder votes); joint-voting agreements enforced by penalty clauses · Chinese and East Asian law
Historical event
The OCI-Hanmi merger plan of January 2024
Science and medicineSeized by the stateNowEast AsiaSouth Korea

Hanmi Pharm's founder died owing a family tax bill of 500 billion won, his widow and daughter agreed to merge with OCI, and his sons stopped it at a shareholder vote

Lim Sung-ki studied pharmacy, opened a pharmacy in Dongdaemun, Seoul, in 1967 and founded Hanmi Pharmaceutical in 1973. Annual sales passed 1 trillion won. He died in August 2020, aged 80. His family owed about 500 billion won in inheritance tax. In January 2024 his widow, Song Young-sook, and daughter, Lim Ju-hyun, announced a deal: OCI Holdings would buy 27% of Hanmi Science for 770.4 billion won, and Ju-hyun would take 10.4% of OCI Holdings. The sons, Lim Jong-yoon and Lim Jong-hoon, said they were not told. The four held between 9.91% and 11.66% each. Song dismissed both sons as presidents. On 28 March 2024 shareholders elected all five of the sons' board nominees and rejected management's six, including Ju-hyun. The founder's friend Shin Dong-kuk, with 12.25%, backed the sons. OCI withdrew. The alliances then changed. In July 2024 Shin agreed to buy shares from Song and Ju-hyun for 164.4 billion won. In December 2024 Lim Jong-yoon agreed to sell 5% to a group led by his mother and sister, and both sides agreed to drop their lawsuits. Song, Ju-hyun, Shin and Killington LLC formed a four-party voting pact, which later broke. In July 2026 a Seoul court seized 10 billion won of Ju-hyun's shares at Shin's request. On 1 October 2026 the Seoul Central District Court dismissed the penalty suit of Song, Ju-hyun and Killington against Shin. An appeal is possible. The two camps are reported less than one point apart.

What the law took from it

An inheritance tax bill paid in shares can hand control of a family company to whoever buys the shares.

Record vs. record

The Herald reported the penalty claimed against Shin as 60 billion won: | Bizhankook reported 600 billion won, 200 billion won per plaintiff:

mbiz.heraldcorp.combizhankook.com
Sources
  1. The Korea TimesPress
  2. The Korea TimesPress
  3. Korea JoongAng DailyPress
  4. Korea JoongAng DailyPress
  5. kedglobal.comPress
  6. kedglobal.comPress
  7. view.asiae.co.krPress
  8. mbiz.heraldcorp.comPress
  9. bizhankook.comPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Hanmi Pharm's founder died owing a family tax bill of 500 billion won, his widow and daughter agreed to merge with OCI, and his sons stopped it at a shareholder vote,” story s1102, https://www.celebrity.estate/hanmi-pharm-2020, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Science and medicineSeized by the stateNowEast AsiaChinese and East Asian lawSouth Korea