Government-Lone Star International Investment Dispute Ruling to Be Delivered on the 31st... 6 Trillion Won Scale

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The international arbitration result between the foreign private equity fund Lone Star and the government of the Republic of Korea will be announced on the 31st.

The Ministry of Justice announced on the 24th that the arbitral tribunal for the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) case filed by Lone Star against the Korean government is scheduled to deliver its ruling on the 31st.

In November 2012, Lone Star filed a lawsuit with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, D.C., claiming $4.6795 billion (approximately 6.0356 trillion KRW) against the Korean government. Initially, the claim was about 5 trillion KRW, but due to recent exchange rate fluctuations, the amount has risen to the 6 trillion KRW range.

Lone Star argued that in 2007, when it tried to sell Korea Exchange Bank to Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC), the Financial Services Commission of Korea delayed approval of the sale without justifiable reasons, and the National Tax Service imposed arbitrary and contradictory taxation. After the overseas sale of Korea Exchange Bank fell through, Lone Star sold it to Hana Bank in 2012.

The government formed a task force called the "International Investment Dispute Response Team," chaired by the Chief of the Prime Minister's Secretariat (currently the Office for Government Policy Coordination), involving related ministries to respond to the dispute.

The Ministry of Justice stated, "We will promptly disclose the ruling once it is announced," and added, "We will do our best to ensure that the outcome aligns with national interests even after the ruling."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.