![The Ministry of Justice building in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province. [Ministry of Justice]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/10/01/news-p.v1.20261001.920e205ca59648b98af8598a826ea2b0_P1.jpg)
An international investor-state dispute settlement tribunal has again found South Korea liable for damages over its unlawful interference in the 2015 merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, ruling that the government must pay US hedge fund Elliott Associates approximately $113 million — about 153.6 billion won — covering damages, interest, and legal costs.
The tribunal issued a supplemental award Wednesday, according to the Maeil Business Newspaper. It found that, absent the government's unlawful intervention, the National Pension Service would have voted against the Samsung C&T-Cheil Industries merger. Regardless of the National Pension Service's legal status, the tribunal concluded that interference by Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Health and Welfare had influenced how the pension fund exercised its voting rights, causing losses to Elliott.
The supplemental ruling came after the UK High Court in February set aside part of the original award and remanded the case to the tribunal. The British court declined to accept the original tribunal's finding that the National Pension Service was a state organ of the South Korean government and that its vote in favor of the merger therefore constituted a government act. However, the court recognized that the intervention by Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Health and Welfare itself constituted a government measure, and directed the tribunal to determine anew whether that intervention had actually caused Elliott's losses. The portion of the original award that South Korea succeeded in having set aside was the finding that the pension fund's pro-merger vote could be directly attributed to the government.
On remand, the tribunal upheld the causal link between the government's intervention and Elliott's losses. The conclusion — that South Korea bears liability — is the same as in the original 2023 award, but the legal reasoning has changed. Where the original award attributed the National Pension Service's pro-merger vote to the South Korean government, the supplemental ruling found that the intervention by Cheong Wa Dae and the Ministry of Health and Welfare itself — independent of the pension fund's legal status — led to Elliott's losses. The relief granted in the 2023 original award was accordingly reinstated.
The Ministry of Justice said it is reviewing the ruling. It has not yet been decided whether the government will accept the award and pay the damages or pursue fresh annulment proceedings.
husn7@heraldcorp.com
