Court Rules Nam June Paik’s 'My Faust' Series Belongs to Spouse of Late Daewoo Chairman Kim Woo-choong

A court has ruled that the ownership of Nam June Paik’s artworks, 'My Faust-Economics' and 'My Faust-Spiritual,' belongs to Jung Hee-ra, the spouse of the late Daewoo Group Chairman Kim Woo-choong.

The Seoul Central District Court’s Civil Settlement Division 34 (Presiding Judge Kim Chang-mo) recently ruled partially in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit filed by Jung against Wooyang Industrial Development (formerly Daewoo Development) for the return of movable property.

In July of last year, Jung filed a lawsuit demanding the return of 188 artworks held by the Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art. She stated, "Around 1991, I exhibited and stored artworks I owned at the Gyeongju Hilton Hotel and the Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art, which were operated by Wooyang Industrial Development under my husband’s control. However, the artworks were not returned during the transition of management at Wooyang Industrial Development, and the company has been in possession of them."

The court ordered the return of three items, including the two Nam June Paik pieces and a work by German artist Sigmar Polke, recognizing them as Jung’s property.

Based on testimonies from a curator at the Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art, the representative of the gallery that sold the works to Jung, and a former staff member of Jung’s secretariat, the court acknowledged that Jung had personally purchased and owned those three items.

The court also cited a formal letter Jung sent to Wooyang Industrial Development in 2014 as evidence of her ownership. In the letter, she wrote, "I have allowed Wooyang Industrial Development to use various artworks and accessories, which I purchased with personal funds over several decades, free of charge, while repeatedly stating that I would retrieve them whenever necessary. Please promptly return my personal artworks and accessories."

However, the court did not recognize Jung’s ownership of the remaining 185 items she requested, stating, "There is no objective evidence to suggest that Jung purchased these items."

Jung had argued that when she served as the director of the Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art, she created collection data cards for each artwork and assigned an 'M' code to the pieces she owned.

However, a museum curator who had prepared the collection data cards testified in court, stating, "Even when the owner was unknown, we recorded them with an 'M' code, and if the actual owner raised an objection later, we would correct it to a different code."

Based on this, the court concluded, "The fact that an artwork is marked with an 'M' code on a collection data card is not sufficient to conclude that it belongs to Jung."

(Photo: Courtesy of Wooyang Museum of Contemporary Art, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.