KH Group said an allegation that KH Philux's 2020 investment in Genencell was related to lawmaker Kim Seung-won (then nominee for Minister of Justice) is groundless. It said the investment at the time was to secure new growth engines, not due to the involvement of a specific politician, and that the company instead incurred a loss in the process.
KH Group said in a statement on the 7th that "KH Philux's name is being mentioned with political suspicions through political circles and the media recently," and stated accordingly.
KH Group's position is that there is no link at all between the company and Kim. KH Group said, "No one among the group's officials knows or has met Kim personally," and "matters related to Kim are unrelated to the company."
It also said, "The Genencell investment is nothing more than a normal new-business investment," adding, "KH Philux at the time pursued investments and cooperation with various parties, taking the bio business as a new growth engine."
It added, "Genencell, too, was one of the bio corporations invested in and partnered with during this process."
KH Group also said KH Philux actually suffered damage from the Genencell investment.
KH Group said, "Philux failed to recover the funds invested in Genencell at the time, even filing a lawsuit and ultimately winning," adding, "The company is merely the injured party that went as far as legal action to prevent investment losses."
It further added, "Excluding the business context and linking us to a political incident solely because of a past investment record does not align with the facts at all."
According to recent media reports, suspicions have been raised that Kim intervened in KH Philux's investment in Genencell and the process of realizing gains. The reports claim that about a year after KH Philux executed its investment in Genencell, Kim sent a text message to the Commissioner of the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety at the time saying, "Please keep a close watch on the clinical trials," and that as a result the share prices of related stocks, including KH Philux, skyrocketed.