Koo Kwang-mo of LG Group won in the first trial of an inheritance restoration lawsuit filed against him by his mother and younger sister.
The 11th Civil Division of the Seoul Western District Court (Presiding Judge Koo Kwang-hyun) said on the 12th it would dismiss in full the inheritance restoration claims filed against Koo by the late former LG patriarch Koo Bon-moo's wife, Kim Young-sik, and their two daughters, Koo Yeon-kyung, head of the LG Welfare Foundation, and Koo Yeon-su.
In February 2023, the three women filed an inheritance restoration suit seeking to repartition the inherited assets against Koo. They said there had been no accurate understanding or consent during the inheritance discussions. Koo's side countered that the matter had been legally finalized through multiple rounds of consultation.
The court found that the agreement on the partitioning of inherited property was validly executed. The court said, "In the initially drafted agreement on the partitioning of inherited property, the defendant (Koo) was to inherit all the shares, but at the plaintiffs' (the three women's) request, the content was changed so that they would inherit part of them," adding, "There was a specific expression of intent regarding the inherited property."
When the former patriarch died in May 2018, he left assets totaling about 2 trillion won, including an 11.28% stake in LG Corp. Koo inherited 8.76% equity in LG, Koo Yeon-kyung received 2.01%, and Koo Yeon-su received 0.51%.
The court also said it was hard to see any deceptive acts during the discussions. It found that the former patriarch had left a will that all LG shares and other assets be inherited by Koo, and that there was a "will memo" written by finance team staff who heard it.
The court said, "Even if deceptive conduct existed, the plaintiffs reached an agreement based on specific expressions of intent regarding the inherited property, so there is no causal relationship between the deceptive conduct and the agreement on the partitioning of inherited property."
YulChon, the law firm representing Koo, said, "The court confirmed that the agreement on the partitioning of inherited property at the time was reached according to due process and reflected the parties' true intent."
Although Kim and the two younger sisters are not Koo's biological mother and biological sister, the former patriarch adopted Koo as his son, making them one family under the law.