“Significant error in interpreting the Korea-US FTA”
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, ‘[Financial News] The government appealed against the decision of the first-instance court to dismiss the Ellicott International Investment Dispute (ISDS) cancellation lawsuit on the 12th (local time). ‘,
, ‘According to the government including the Ministry of Justice on the 13th, the UK first-instance court ruled to dismiss the Ellicott ISDS arbitration cancellation lawsuit filed by our government on the 1st of last month. ‘,
, ‘The UK court decided that the interpretation issue of Article 11.1 of the Korea-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was not a matter related to ‘substantial jurisdiction,’ which is a reason for canceling arbitration decisions under UK arbitration law, and did not accept our government’s cancellation defense. ‘,
, ‘However, the UK court allowed our government’s appeal on the grounds that there is considerable room for dispute in the conclusion of the dismissal ruling, and granted the appeal of our government ex officio, as an appeal requires permission from the judge in charge of the first-instance court. ‘,
, ‘The government stated, “After reviewing with relevant ministries, government agent firms, external experts, it was determined that there is a significant error in the interpretation of the Korea-US FTA, so an appeal should be filed,” and pledged to make every effort in the appeals court to correct the dismissive ruling of the first instance. ‘,
, ‘If the Korean government wins in the appeals court, the case will be returned to the first-instance court for a substantive decision on the cancellation of arbitration. ‘,
, ‘Ellicott filed the ISDS based on the claim that it suffered significant losses from pressure by the Blue House and the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the National Pension Service to approve the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries in 2015. ‘,
, ‘The Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) ruled last year on June 20th for the Korean government to compensate Ellicott with $53,586,931 (approximately 69 billion won based on the exchange rate of 1,288 won). This includes delayed interest, legal costs, etc. ‘,
, ‘The delayed interest based on the Ellicott ISDS arbitration award is calculated at an annual compound interest rate of 5%, so the delayed interest accumulated from the pronouncement date of the arbitration award on June 20, 2023, until the 1st of this month amounts to approximately 5.9 billion won, according to the Ministry of Justice. ‘,
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