This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 4:12 p.m. on Jan. 23, 2026.
Lee Min-joo, founder and chairman of domestic venture capital (VC) Atinum Investment, filed an objection to a court's compulsory mediation decision ordering payment of contribution to Yuanta Securities Korea. Earlier, Yuanta took on damages it paid related to a meat collateral loan in the process of transferring Tongyang Life Insurance to China's Anbang Insurance Group and filed a contribution lawsuit against Lee to recover a portion of that amount.
According to investment banking (IB) and legal sources on the 23rd, Lee the previous day submitted an objection rejecting the court's compulsory mediation decision. Compulsory mediation is a system in which the court, if the parties fail to reach a settlement, presents a mediation plan ex officio. If there is no objection to the decision within two weeks, it has the same effect as a final judgment.
Earlier in 2017, Anbang Insurance Group applied for arbitration with the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), claiming that the sellers—Yuanta Securities Korea, Lee, and domestic private equity fund (PEF) manager VIG Partners—violated representations and warranties in the process of acquiring Tongyang Life Insurance. The argument was that they suffered losses amounting to hundreds of billions of won because the equity was sold without disclosing the risks of meat collateral loans. A meat collateral loan is when a distributor borrows from a financial company using meat entrusted to a warehouse as collateral.
In 2020, the international arbitration tribunal recognized the sellers' liability and ordered payment of 166.6 billion won in damages to Anbang Insurance. Anbang then applied to a Korean court for an "approval and enforcement decision of the arbitral award" to enforce the award in Korea, and the court ruled in favor of Anbang, ordering payment of the damages.
Yuanta Securities Korea subsequently paid a total of 191.1 billion won to Anbang Insurance first. As the calculation of loss shares was delayed—such as the special purpose company (SPC) of co-seller VIG Partners being liquidated—it was concerned that delinquency interest would rise. After that, it filed contribution lawsuits twice last January and March, respectively against VIG Partners and Lee. It exercised the right to contribution in proportion to Tongyang Life Insurance equity ratios at the time (VIG Partners 57.5%, Yuanta Securities Korea 3%, Lee 2.5%).
Meanwhile, the lawsuit seeking the return of approximately 135 billion won in unlawful distributions that Yuanta Securities Korea filed against VIG Partners is proceeding to a full trial without mediation.