3-Year LG Family Inheritance Dispute...Chairman Koo Kwangmo Prevails (Comprehensive)

"Agreement on Division of Inherited Property Is Valid"

In a legal dispute within the owner family over the inherited assets of the late former LG Group Chairman Koo Bonmu, the court of first instance has ruled in favor of LG Group Chairman Koo Kwangmo.

On the 12th, the 11th Civil Division of the Seoul Western District Court (Presiding Judge Koo Kwanghyun) ruled against the plaintiffs in the first-instance inheritance recovery lawsuit filed by the late Chairman Koo’s wife, Kim Youngsik, and his two daughters, Koo Yeonkyung, head of the LG Welfare Foundation, and Koo Yeonsu, against Chairman Koo. The court stated, “The plaintiffs’ claims are groundless and are therefore all dismissed.”

Koo Kwangmo, Chairman of LG Group. Yonhap News

The court found that the statute of extinction (jecheok period), one of the key issues in the case, had not expired. It held that it was difficult to conclude that, before 2022 when the plaintiffs claim to have confirmed the agreement on the division of inherited property (the agreement), they already knew that the agreement was null and void or that there were grounds for its cancellation. Under the Civil Act, the right to claim inheritance recovery is extinguished, among other cases, when three years have passed since the heir became aware of the infringement of their inheritance rights. Chairman Koo’s side had argued that the procedures for inheritance to Chairman Koo and others were completed in November 2018, and that because Kim and others filed the lawsuit in February 2023, the statute of extinction had already run.

However, the court determined that the agreement drafted in 2018 was validly executed. It premised that there was no dispute over the fact that the agreement was sealed with the personal seal that the finance management team had been keeping under a power of attorney from the plaintiffs, and found that the plaintiffs had received multiple reports on, and engaged in discussions regarding, the list of inherited assets and their division.

The court cited as grounds the fact that, in the initial draft of the agreement, Chairman Koo was to inherit all of the shares of LG Corp., but at the request of Kim, the content was changed so that a portion of the shares would be inherited by the two daughters, including Representative Koo. Based on this, the court held that the plaintiffs must be deemed to have clearly expressed their specific intentions.

The court also found it difficult to conclude that there had been any “fraudulent conduct” in the process of drafting the agreement. Regarding the claim that the plaintiffs were induced to affix their seals to the agreement by being misled that LG CNS shares and deposit assets were “management assets,” the court held that it is difficult to view management assets as being limited only to LG Corp. shares, and that deposit assets managed using LG CNS shares and other such assets as financial resources could also be included.

Attorney Lim Sungkeun, representing the plaintiffs, said immediately after the verdict, “We will decide our next steps after reviewing the judgment.”