A first-trial ruling found that ownership of Nam June Paik's works "My Faust - Economics" and "My Faust - Spirituality" belongs to Jeong Hee-ra, the spouse of the late Kim Woo-choong, chairman of the Daewoo Group.
According to legal sources on the 18th, the Civil Agreement Division 34 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Chang-mo) recently ruled partially in favor of the plaintiff in the chattel delivery suit Jeong filed against Wooyang Industrial Development (formerly Daewoo Development).
Jeong said in July 1991 she stored her artworks at the Wooyang Museum of Art operated by Wooyang Industrial Development, which Kim controlled, but the artworks were not returned during the management rights transfer process, prompting the lawsuit.
Jeong demanded that Wooyang Industrial Development return 188 artworks held by the Wooyang Museum of Art. Jeong's side was also said to have sent official letters requesting the return of her artworks since 2013.
The court, based on testimony from a Wooyang Museum of Art curator, the head of the gallery that sold the works, and a former staffer from Jeong's secretariat, determined that only three works—including two by Nam June Paik—belonged to Jeong and ordered their return.
The items to be returned are said to be two pieces—"Economics" and "Spirituality"—from Paik's "My Faust" series, and a work by German artist Sigmar Polke.
Both "My Faust - Economics" and "My Faust - Spirituality" are monumental works standing 3.1 meters tall, and they drew particular attention at the Nam June Paik special exhibition at the Wooyang Museum of Art in July last year.
Meanwhile, the court did not recognize ownership for the remaining 185 pieces Jeong sought to have returned, saying there was no objective material showing Jeong purchased them.