Arbitration Court Orders Government to Pay 43.8 Billion KRW Plus Interest to Private Equity Fund
Ministry of Justice: "National Interests Come First, We Will Analyze the Judgment and Respond Accordingly"
On the 21st, the Ministry of Justice announced that the Singapore International Commercial Court ruled against the Korean government in an international investment dispute (ISDS) case filed by the U.S. private equity firm Mason. The court sided with Mason's claims, resulting in the Korean government being ordered to pay Mason approximately 32 million USD (about 43.8 billion KRW) along with around 5% delayed interest from July 2015 to the present.
Mason was a former shareholder of Samsung C&T Corporation. In September 2018, Mason filed an ISDS claim arguing that the Korean government, through the National Pension Service's voting pressure, forced approval of the Samsung C&T-Cheil Industries merger, causing losses of about 200 million USD due to stock price decline. In April last year, the arbitration tribunal partially accepted Mason's claims and ordered the Korean government to pay damages of approximately 32 million USD (about 43.8 billion KRW) plus delayed interest. In response, the Korean government filed a cancellation lawsuit with the Singapore court, the seat of arbitration, in July last year.
On the 20th, the Singapore court dismissed the Korean government's claims, upholding the original arbitration award. The Ministry of Justice stated, "We will prioritize national interests and carefully analyze the judgment to prepare our response."
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