The South Korean government has lost the remand arbitration in the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) case brought against it by U.S. private equity fund Elliott.

The Ministry of Justice announced that the ISDS remand arbitral tribunal ruled at around 7:00 PM on September 30 (Korea time) that the government must pay Elliott approximately $48.49 million (approx. 65.8 billion won) plus delayed interest.

The tribunal concluded that a causal link exists between the government's intervention to influence the National Pension Service to vote in favor of the 2015 merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries and the damages suffered by Elliott.

Previously, a British court ruled in February of this year that the National Pension Service cannot be regarded as a state organ, partially setting aside the original arbitration award and remanding the case back to the arbitral tribunal to re-examine the causal relationship between the government's intervention in the merger and Elliott's losses.

The remand arbitral tribunal was composed of the same three arbitrators as the original tribunal, and following a rehearing, it upheld the same compensation amount as the original award.

The Ministry of Justice stated, "We will thoroughly analyze the arbitral award in cooperation with related ministries, government legal counsel, and external experts, and do our utmost to take necessary follow-up measures."
 
(Photo: Yonhap News)