L&H Korea Co., Ltd. Files Voluntary Petition for Bankruptcy Protection

Business Wire, April 25, 2001

Business Editors

IEPER, BELGIUM, BURLINGTON, MASS.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 25, 2001

Lernout & Hauspie and its Korean subsidiary file criminal complaint

against former president and several previous

employees of L&H Korea Co., Ltd., as well as current

and former employees of several Korean banks

Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products NV (EASDAQ: LHSP, OTC: LHSPQ) ('L&H' or 'the Company'), a world leader in speech and language technology, products and services, today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary L&H Korea Co., Ltd. ('LHK') (formerly Bumil Information and Communication) has voluntarily filed a petition for bankruptcy protection under the Bankruptcy Act of Korea. The bankruptcy filing was made yesterday in Seoul, Korea.

Concurrently, L&H and LHK filed with the Seoul Prosecutors Office a criminal complaint against Ju Chul Seo (also known as John Seo), the former president of LHK. The complaint requests a thorough investigation into Mr. Seo's activities as an officer of LHK between September 1999 and November 2000. The Company believes that certain actions by Mr. Seo amount to criminal fraud and breach of trust in office, among other criminal activities. Other defendants named in the complaint, who L&H believes abetted these activities, include former LHK employees Sam Cho, Henry Oh and J.H. Kim, as well as current and former officials of ChoHung Bank, Hana Bank, Hanvit Bank, and Shinhan Bank.

About Lernout & Hauspie

Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. (L&H) is a global leader in advanced speech and language solutions for vertical markets, computers, automobiles, telecommunications, embedded products, consumer goods and the Internet. The company is making the speech user interface (SUI) the keystone of simple, convenient interaction between humans and technology, and is using advanced translation technology to break down language barriers. The company provides a wide range of offerings, including: customized solutions for corporations; core speech technologies marketed to OEMs; end user and retail applications for continuous speech products in horizontal and vertical markets; and document creation, human and machine translation services, Internet translation offerings, and linguistic tools.

L&H's products and services originate in four basic areas: automatic speech recognition (ASR), text-to-speech (TTS), digital speech and music compression (SMC) and text-to-text (translation). For more information, please visit Lernout & Hauspie on the World Wide Web at www.lhsl.com.

This Press Release contains forward-looking information that involves risks and uncertainties, including statements about the Company's plans, objectives, expectations and intentions. Readers are cautioned that forward looking statements include known and unknown risks, including the uncertainties associated with the Company's recent chapter 11 filings in the United States and similar proceedings in Belgium, uncertainty of new product development, the risk that newly introduced products may contain undetected errors or defects or otherwise not perform as anticipated, the early state of development of the speech, language and medical information technology markets, the ability of L&H's customers to successfully integrate and commercialize L&H's technology, the retention of key technological and other personnel, currency and other risks related to international operations, rapid technological change and intense competition, as well as other risks set forth in L&H's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements contained herein speak only as of the date of this Press Release.

L&H is a trademark or registered trademark of Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. or its affiliates, in the United States and/or other countries. All other product names or trademarks referenced herein are trademarks of their respective owners.