The South Korean Ministry of Justice emphasized the significance of the court ruling that annulled the arbitration decision in favor of Elliott, stating it affirms the independence and autonomy of the National Pension Fund.
The South Korean Ministry of Justice recently announced that it has won a legal battle in the UK court against the US-based hedge fund Elliott, which sought to challenge the National Pension Fund's investment decisions based on alleged governmental interference. During a briefing, the Ministry clarified that if the arbitration ruling had been upheld, the National Pension Fund, managing assets worth up to 1800 trillion won, could have faced international investment disputes due to governmental actions, which could have negatively impacted its investment activities and profitability. The Ministry underscored that the court ruling affirms the autonomy of the National Pension Fund and clears it from being classified as a state institution under international law.
The dispute traces back to 2015 when Elliott, a former shareholder of Samsung C&T, opposed the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries. Elliott argued that the National Pension Service's vote in favor of the merger was influenced by undue pressure from the government, linked to the 'National Disruption' scandal, leading to significant financial losses. The Ministry of Justice pointed out that Elliott has been exploiting the National Disruption incident to validate its claims. There were implications of governmental interference according to domestic criminal judgments involving the Blue House, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and the National Pension Service, which allegedly enhanced Elliott's arguments in the dispute.
However, the final decision determined that the National Pension Service does not qualify as a state organ, thus limiting the scope of governmental liability to acts performed by the Blue House and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The Ministry expressed satisfaction with exceeding the typical annulment rate in UK arbitration cases, noting that the successful cancellation of the arbitration decision was achieved by consistently advocating a sound legal theory throughout subsequent legal processes. Elliott may still appeal the ruling within three weeks, yet the Ministry insists that the underlying issues from the National Disruption case will not affect the matter.
