The Korean joint venture between Yoon Deok-byeong and Yakult Honsha was established on 27 November 1969 under the name 한국야쿠르트유업주식회사 (transl.
Korea Yakult, Inc.)[4][5][6] The company created and started selling domestic yakult in 1971 to negative reception in the early days, due to the lack of knowledge regarding lactic acid bacteria.
At the time, there was speculation about the product, due to popular belief that lactic acid was harmful to the body.
This marketing campaign resulted in a major success, with sales increasing to a million bottles sold per day by 1977.
[14] In 2021 March 29, Korea Yakult declared that they are renaming their business to hy, Ltd. due to their interest in expanding their portfolio in the distribution sector after a shareholder meeting the day before.