Jung Tae-young, Vice Chairman of Hyundai Card, Loses to Siblings in 'Parents' Guestbook Disclosure' Lawsuit (Comprehensive)

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[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] Jung Taeyoung, Vice Chairman of Hyundai Card, lost a lawsuit after refusing to disclose part of the guestbook list from their parents' funeral to his younger siblings.

The Civil Division 12 of the Seoul Western District Court (Presiding Judge Sung Jiho) announced on the 5th that it ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, Jung’s two younger siblings, in a lawsuit filed against Vice Chairman Jung demanding the delivery of the guestbook on the 1st.

The court stated, “In general Korean funeral etiquette, it is considered polite to prepare a place to express gratitude to the mourners or to send thank-you notes,” and “It is common practice to separately record and verify the funeral guestbook and the list of wreath senders.”

It further ruled, “Unless there are special circumstances, the guestbook and the wreath sender list should be accessible and available for copying by all children of the deceased.”

Vice Chairman Jung’s mother, Mrs. Cho, and father, Jung Kyungjin, chairman of Jongno Academy, passed away in February 2019 and November 2020, respectively. After the funeral procedures, Jung’s siblings asked him to show the funeral guestbook, but he reportedly only handed over part of the list of mourners who visited them.

In response, the siblings requested copies of the guestbook twice in December 2020 and January last year but were refused, leading them to file a lawsuit in February of the same year.

During the trial, Vice Chairman Jung’s side argued, “The list of mourners recorded in the guestbook is merely simple information and cannot be considered shared property, so the siblings’ right to request disclosure of information cannot be recognized,” and “Mourners leave their personal information intending to provide it only to a specific bereaved family member, granting them permission to collect and use it, so the disclosure request is an unfair claim that infringes on the data subject’s right to self-determination.”

Vice Chairman Jung had previously filed a lawsuit against his siblings in September 2020, demanding 200 million KRW out of 1 billion KRW of their mother’s inheritance.

Meanwhile, Vice Chairman Jung’s side stated, “The guestbook from the father’s funeral held in November 2020 has already been disclosed to the siblings, and only the guestbook from the mother’s funeral held in February 2019 was lost during a move and cannot be delivered,” adding, “There is no particular reason not to disclose the mother’s guestbook.”

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