Korea Zinc criticized MBK Partners for filing a shareholder derivative lawsuit (damages) against its management, calling it "an unnecessary and wasteful litigation."

MBK Partners claimed that on Nov. 1 last year, Korea Zinc Chairman Choi Yoon-bum and CEO Park Ki-deok caused a loss of over 100 billion won by selling stocks of Hanwha Corporation at a low price without a board resolution, and filed a lawsuit.

The building where the Korea Zinc headquarters is located in Jongno-gu, Seoul. /Courtesy of News1

Korea Zinc stated, "We sold the stocks after smooth negotiations with Hanwha Group, and the transaction price was determined based on the then-market price," adding, "We conducted the transaction in full compliance with the Commercial Act and internal regulations."

Korea Zinc further explained, "Over the past two years, we received dividends of 750 won per share from Hanwha and earned a total revenue of 8.16567 billion won," noting, "We recovered a total of 160.1 billion won through holding and disposing of Hanwha's equity over the two years."

Korea Zinc also stated, "Ignoring the rational decisions that led to mutually beneficial business cooperation and revenue between the two companies, MBK is tarnishing the company's reputation with its reckless "sue first and ask questions later" approach."

Korea Zinc sold 5,436,380 shares of Hanwha Corporation, which it held at the end of last year, to Hanwha Energy at a price of 27,590 won per share. The total amount from the sale is approximately 151.9 billion won.

MBK claimed, "As Chairman Choi faced a crisis of losing management rights, he made decisions contrary to the interests of all shareholders to gain support from major shareholders in the Hanwha affiliates," and noted, "The current stock price of Hanwha Corporation is over 80% higher than at the time of the disposal."