Daewoong hires ex-health chief responsible for MERS spread

By Park Jae-hyuk

Yang Byung-guk

Daewoong Pharm is under fire for appointing a former top government official who failed to prevent the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak, as head of its bio business unit.

The country’s major pharmaceutical company on Monday named Yang Byung-guk, a former director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), as the CEO of Daewoong Bio.

The Seoul National University College of Medicine graduate, who built his 20-year public career in the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the KCDC, vowed to foster the company as a global health care group.

However, critics point out that Yang, who retired in disgrace from the government office last year, was disciplined for being responsible for the spread of the fatal disease that threatened the nation.

Last January, the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) of Korea called for Yang’s dismissal following a two-month inspection on 18 institutions, including the health ministry and the KCDC.

Although the BAI emphasized Yang’s belated countermeasures against the MERS at that time, the Ministry of Personnel Management suspended him for three months, and Yang stepped down last October.

Yang also was reportedly investigated by the independent counsel last month over allegations that the government took only belated measures against Samsung Medical Center, which was partly responsible for the spread of the disease.

Industry observers have also been dubious of Yang’s capabilities, noting that public officials have rarely been appointed as heads of pharmaceutical companies.