Court battle begins over Lee’s Samsung inheritance

The inheritance fight between Samsung Electronics chairman Lee Kun-hee and his siblings officially began on Wednesday with their lawyers attending a court session on the day.

The legal teams of both sides were set to meet for a hearing with a judge present at the Seoul Central District Court.

“I had many worries ahead of the trial as the issue was getting bigger,” said Judge Seo Chang-won. “We will proceed all pleading sessions in written statements.”

Six legal staff were present at the session from Lee Kun-hee’s side, while nine were at the court from the other. Samsung officials said they did not have any comment on the issue. Further details were not available as of press time.

Lee Kun-hee’s elder brother Lee Maeng-hee had filed an inheritance suit against the chairman of the country’s largest conglomerate at the same court on Feb. 12. Following the suit, some other family members, including older sister Lee Sook-hee, took similar action against the chairman.

After staging a bitter war of words, Lee Kun-hee told reporters before going on a business trip to Europe that he would no longer personally get involved in the inheritance suit with his siblings.

He also publicly apologized for expressing his anger over the case, elaborating that he will “only focus on nurturing Samsung Group.”

The chairman had fiercely criticized his elder brother and sister for bringing the suit against him, describing them as figures that had already been ousted from the family.

He said no one in his family considered Lee Maeng-hee to be the eldest son of late Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull, and that his father had declared Maeng-hee not to be his son.

Lee, however, suffered bad public sentiment as the news went global and media called the case “a soap opera.”

In the meantime, Lee Maeng-hee asked the court to order his younger brother to return 8.24 million shares in Samsung Life Insurance and 20 preferred and common stocks in Samsung Electronics, along with 100 million won ($89,000) ― adding up to about 710 billion won.

Lee Sook-hee also asked for shares left by the founder worth 190 billion won. The family members of Lee Kun-hee’s older brother Lee Chang-hee have also launched another inheritance suit worth up to 100 billion won.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)