Anchor: South Korea has been released from its obligation to pay more than 216 million U.S. dollars to private equity fund Lone Star. The government announced at a press briefing on Tuesday night that the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes(ICSID), a World Bank tribunal, had annulled a 2022 ruling ordering the South Korean government to pay 216-point-five million dollars in principal, plus interest, to the U.S. buyout firm. Lone Star says it will challenge the decision in another venue.
Kim Bum-soo has more.

Report: Lone Star Funds in 2003 bought approximately 51 percent of the struggling Korea Exchange Bank and sold the stake to Hana Financial Group in 2012 at almost three times its purchase price.

The U.S. private equity firm filed an investor-state dispute settlement claim the same year, alleging that South Korean financial regulators deliberately delayed their approval of its initial attempt to sell the stake to HSBC in 2007, resulting in four-point 67 billion dollars in losses.

In a news conference Tuesday night, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok announced that the government had won its 13-year legal battle against Lone Star.

[Sound bite: Prime Minister Kim Min-seok (Korean-English)]
"The government received a ruling in favor of the Republic of Korea from the Lone Star annulment committee of the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, or ICSID, in Washington, D.C., at approximately 3:22 p.m. today. The committee canceled the government's obligation to pay Lone Star the principal amount of 216-point 05 million dollars and interest thereon, which was granted in the arbitration dated August 30, 2022."

In 2023, South Korea appealed the International Center for Settlement of Investment's 2022 ruling ordering it to compensate Lone Star.

Lone Star also filed a suit to annul the ruling, claiming that the compensation was not sufficient.

[Sound bite: Prime Minister Kim Min-seok (Korean-English)]
"The government's liability of roughly 400 billion won, based on the current exchange rate, has been retroactively extinguished."

Lone Star said in a statement on Wednesday that it looks forward to presenting its case to a new tribunal.

The firm expressed confidence that the new panel will again find that South Korea acted unlawfully in its handling of the planned sale of Korea Exchange Bank, now known as Hana Bank, and will award the full requested amount.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.