hankyoreh

By Hwang Chun-hwa and Kim Jin-cheol, staff writers

Following Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee’s comments that he has “no intention of giving up a single cent” of the Samsung owner family inheritance feud, his older brother and former Cheil Fertilizer chairman Lee Maeng-hee has criticized him directly, saying, “Greed is what brought about this lawsuit.”

On Monday, Lee Maeng-hee, 81, issued a press release through Hwawoo, his legal representative, titled, “Stance regarding comments made by Chairman Lee Kun-hee.” In it, the elder Lee stated, “I was awfully taken aback to hear Kun-hee making such childish comments. I am worried about who will lead Samsung forward in the future.” The press release also contained a voice recording from Lee Maeng-hee with the same content.

Lee Maeng-hee emphasized that the inheritance battle started because of assets kept by Lee Kun-hee under an assumed name. “Until now, Kun-hee has merely increased discord within the family and has always served only his own greed,” he said.

Lee added, “This lawsuit is of my own volition. I am not going ahead with this lawsuit because I have my eye on Samsung; my aim is to reveal the truth and to set right that which is wrong.” These comments from Lee Maeng-hee are understood to be an answer to suspicions that the CJ Group may lay in the background to the lawsuit.

Lee Sook-hee, the second daughter of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull, who is filing the lawsuit along with Lee Maeng-hee, also released a press release accusing Lee Kun-hee of lying. “[Lee Kun-hee’s] comments about ‘low-level people’ can only be called ‘rough words’ against us, his elder brother and sister,” she said. “I never agreed to anything about the shares registered under assumed names, because I was not even aware of their existence.” Lee Sook-hee emphasized, “The claim that the division of assets was completed when the former chairman [Lee Byung-chull] was alive is a lie. I am not trying to take away Chairman Lee Kun-hee’s assets, but to get back the assets that he has been hiding for 25 years.”

With the both sides’ legal stances now revealed, legal experts believe comments by both Lee Kun-hee and Lee Maeng-hee about the “Constitutional Court” lie at the heart of the matter. Following comments by the former that he would go “not to court, but all the way to the Constitutional Court,” the latter replied by saying, “Is this a matter that will reach the Constitutional Court?”

“Due to a ruling of unconstitutionality by the Constitutional Court, the exclusion period [the fixed period beyond which rights expire if not yet exercised] was changed to ‘ten years from the day the inheritance rights were infringed’,” stated one Seoul Central District Court judge.

“Consequently, Lee Kun-hee can no longer claim without a second thought that the exclusion period has expired. Lee Kun-hee’s comments about the Constitutional Court can be interpreted as the result of his having received a report to this effect from his legal team.” Lee Maeng-hee’s side claims that the day the rights infringement took place was in December 2008, when the shares registered under an assumed name were re-registered under than of their real owner, while Lee Kun-hee asserts that the infringement occurred in 1987, when Lee Byung-chull died.

Meanwhile, the Samsung Group said, “We have said everything we have to say regarding the lawsuit. Chairman Lee Kun-hee, 70, is concentrating solely on management, growing Samsung into an elite company.”

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