Key Takeaways
- • The Korean government will not challenge the Sept. 30 arbitration ruling in Elliott Management's favor, accepting an order to pay the U.S. hedge fund $113 million, according to the Ministry of Justice and Elliott's statement.
- • The award comprises $48.5 million in damages plus late-payment interest and legal costs; the government's release put the total at 153 billion won ($114 million).
- • The ISDS claim, filed in July 2018 under the Korea-U.S. FTA, centered on alleged government interference with the National Pension Service's vote on the 2015 Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries merger.
- • Elliott had sought $770 million; the final award is a fraction of that figure after the tribunal reduced damages following a correction in September 2023.
- • The case closes eight years and three months after filing, with the government ultimately held liable after a British court partly overturned the award but the tribunal reaffirmed liability.
Summary
The Korean government has abandoned its eight-year legal fight against Elliott Management over the 2015 merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries, agreeing to pay the U.S. hedge fund $113 million. The Ministry of Justice said on Wednesday that it would not ask the High Court in London, the seat of the arbitration, to overturn the Sept. 30 arbitration ruling. Elliott put the total at $113 million in a statement released the same day, while the government's release valued it at 153 billion won ($114 million).
The ministry said it reached its decision after reviewing the ruling, gathering opinions from other government ministries, its outside law firms and external experts. The review weighed the likelihood of overturning the ruling against the cost of further litigation. The award consists of $48.5 million in damages, plus late-payment interest and legal costs.
Elliott, then a Samsung C&T shareholder, filed an investor-state dispute settlement claim under the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement in July 2018. It argued that the government improperly interfered with how the National Pension Service voted on the merger and that the fund suffered losses as a result. An arbitration tribunal administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration found the government liable in June 2023, and after a correction that September set damages at $48.5 million, well below the $770 million Elliott had sought.
The government's challenge in British courts produced mixed results. The High Court dismissed the challenge in August 2024, but the Court of Appeal sided with the government in July 2025 and remanded the case. In February, the High Court overturned part of the award, ruling that the NPS was not a state organ, while upholding the tribunal's jurisdiction over actions by the office of then-President Park Geun-hye and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The case returned to the same three arbitrators, who ruled on Sept. 30 that the government's actions had caused Elliott's losses and again held it liable for $48.5 million plus interest.
The ministry said it reached its decision after reviewing the ruling, gathering opinions from other government ministries, its outside law firms and external experts. The review weighed the likelihood of overturning the ruling against the cost of further litigation. The award consists of $48.5 million in damages, plus late-payment interest and legal costs.
Elliott, then a Samsung C&T shareholder, filed an investor-state dispute settlement claim under the Korea-U.S. free trade agreement in July 2018. It argued that the government improperly interfered with how the National Pension Service voted on the merger and that the fund suffered losses as a result. An arbitration tribunal administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration found the government liable in June 2023, and after a correction that September set damages at $48.5 million, well below the $770 million Elliott had sought.
The government's challenge in British courts produced mixed results. The High Court dismissed the challenge in August 2024, but the Court of Appeal sided with the government in July 2025 and remanded the case. In February, the High Court overturned part of the award, ruling that the NPS was not a state organ, while upholding the tribunal's jurisdiction over actions by the office of then-President Park Geun-hye and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The case returned to the same three arbitrators, who ruled on Sept. 30 that the government's actions had caused Elliott's losses and again held it liable for $48.5 million plus interest.
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