The government said on the 15th that it received 9.6 billion won in ISDS litigation expense from Swiss elevator company Schindler Holding AG. It is the largest amount of litigation expense the government has ever recovered in connection with ISDS.
The Ministry of Justice said it received full payment of 9.6 billion won in government litigation expense incurred in the ISDS proceedings from Schindler on this day. It came a month after the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) dismissed Schindler's claim seeking about 325 billion won in damages against the government.
The Ministry of Justice sent a "demand letter" to Schindler on the 19th of last month, five days after winning the ISDS case. It said that if payment was not made within the deadline, the government could trace Schindler's assets held in countries around the world, file lawsuits in jurisdictions where those assets are located to obtain enforcement judgments, and move to forced execution.
Schindler remitted the litigation expense to the Ministry of Justice's designated account in won, U.S. dollars, British pounds, and euros from the 10th to the 15th. It reportedly took a few days to complete procedures to receive foreign currency and won from overseas.
Schindler was the second-largest shareholder of Hyundai Elevator. In July 2018, it filed an ISDS claim against the Korean government, saying it suffered losses from a share price drop because Korea's financial and antitrust authorities failed to conduct thorough investigations and supervision during Hyundai Elevator's rights offerings and transfer of call options from 2013 to 2016.
The government countered that the actions of the Financial Services Commission, the Financial Supervisory Service, and the Korea Fair Trade Commission complied with domestic laws. The arbitral tribunal found that the Korean authorities' actions were not arbitrary or discriminatory and that, because the government did not violate the investment treaty, state responsibility under international law could not be established.
Minister Jung Sung-ho of the Ministry of Justice said, "With the recovery of 9.6 billion won in litigation expense in this case, the legal dispute with Schindler has concluded with a complete victory for the government," adding, "This is a valuable result earned by the government's best efforts to the end."
The government plans to work closely with related ministries, BAE, KIM & LEE LLC, which represents the government, and U.S. law firm "Debevoise & Plimpton," to respond thoroughly to any potential annulment action by Schindler and safeguard taxpayers' money.
Previously, on Dec. 17 last year, the government received full payment of about 7.4 billion won in ISDS annulment proceeding litigation costs from Lone Star one month after winning.