On the 25th, the court decided that Kolmar BNH, a health functional food and cosmetics manufacturer of Kolmar Group, must hold an extraordinary general meeting of shareholders. Earlier, Yoon Sang-hyun, the vice chairman and eldest son of founder Yoon Dong-han, had filed a petition for an extraordinary meeting, demanding that he be appointed as an inside director of Kolmar BNH, led by his younger sister Yoon Yeo-won.
On the 25th, Kolmar BNH announced in a disclosure that the Daejeon District Court accepted Kolmar Holdings' request to convene an extraordinary general meeting. It added, "The extraordinary general meeting must be held by September 26." The meeting will discuss whether to appoint Vice Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun and former CJ CheilJedang Vice President Lee Sang-hwa as inside directors of Kolmar BNH.
The management dispute between the siblings of Kolmar Group came to light on May 9 when Kolmar BNH disclosed the fact that it was involved in a management dispute lawsuit. After Yoon Dong-han stepped down from management in 2019, the group was led by his eldest son, Vice Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun, who dominated the holding company Kolmar Holdings, while Yoon Sang-hyun's younger sister, Yoon Yeo-won, led the affiliate Kolmar BNH.
However, tensions erupted when Vice Chairman Yoon demanded that Kolmar BNH appoint him and former CJ CheilJedang Vice President Lee Seung-hwa as inside directors. It is reported that Vice Chairman Yoon cited the poor performance of Kolmar BNH since Yoon Yeo-won took office as a reason for wanting to participate in the board. When Kolmar BNH did not accept this demand, Vice Chairman Yoon's side filed a petition with the court to convene an extraordinary general meeting.
In response, Yoon Yeo-won also filed a petition to maintain an unlawful act against this request, asking for it to be withdrawn, but the court seems to have rejected this.
Meanwhile, as the sibling conflict intensified, Yoon Dong-han filed a lawsuit for the return of shares against his son, Vice Chairman Yoon Sang-hyun, which is currently under trial. In 2019, Yoon Dong-han gifted 28.18% of his shares in Kolmar Holdings to his son, daughter, and son-in-law. At that time, Vice Chairman Yoon and Yoon Yeo-won reached an agreement for "independent management among the three parties," but Yoon Dong-han holds that Vice Chairman Yoon violated this agreement. The court accepted Yoon Dong-han's request not to dispose of the shares held by Vice Chairman Yoon at the beginning of this month.