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Lim Woo-jae, 48, currently an adviser for Samsung Electro-Mechanics, has filed a suit against his estranged wife, Hotel Shilla CEO Lee Boo-jin, for more than a trillion Korean won (about US$864 million) as his share of their assets. The couple is in the midst of divorce proceedings initiated by Lee. The amount that Lim is demanding in the division of assets is the biggest in South Korean history, raising questions over whether this case may bring Lee’s entire estate to light.

On July 6 legal sources revealed that on June 29 Lim filed a suit at Seoul Family Court for alimony and division of assets. Although the exact share of assets he is seeking is not known, it is thought to be about 1.2 trillion won (US$1.04 billion). He has also demanded 10 million won for mental distress. In such cases, the court determines how mutually held assets are to be split by assessing how much each partner contributed to the creation of those assets during the marriage. Lim and Lee wed in 1999 and were together for 15 years.

Lim has appealed the divorce ruling at the Suwon District Court and has countersued, clearly showing that he does want the divorce in spite of his having previously maintained that he wants to protect his family and does not want a divorce. With the divorce proceedings already underway in Suwon District Court, Seoul Family Court is reviewing the issue of which court’s jurisdiction the countersuit falls under.

The question of whether the total amount of Lee’s assets will be revealed during these proceedings is drawing attention. In 1996, she received 1.61 billion won from her father, Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee, and bought Samsung Everland convertible bonds. Similarly, with a 1999 investment of 4.9 billion won, she was issued divisible bonds with warrant (BW) in Samsung SDS that allow preemptive rights to new stocks. Lee’s shares of the two companies were valued at 1.65 trillion won and 510 billion won respectively when they went public. Lee’s older brother, Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, and her sister, Lee Seo-hyun, who is president of Samsung C&T‘s fashion group, also received convertible bonds and BWs with preemptive rights, leading to the indictment of Lee Kun-hee on charges of illegal bond trading and improper distribution of assets. On July 6, Forbes put Lee Boo-jin’s net worth at US$1.64 billion.

There has been talk that assets Lee Boo-jin holds under assumed names may also come to light, but that possibility is slim. According to South Korean family law, if Lim applies to the court to investigate Lee’s assets, the court can request relevant information from such state institutions as the Supreme Court and the National Tax Service and from financial institutions, but the data acquired that way cannot be used for any purpose other than the litigation in question. A source in the Seoul Family Court said, “When there are questions about assets held under an assumed name, the litigant has to find them himself and prove that they exist.”

The Samsung Group has not taken any official stance on these issues. A Samsung source said, “This is not a case that should involve official action by the company but is Lee’s personal matter, so neither the Samsung Group nor the Hotel Shilla have anything to say about it.”

By Choi Hyun-june, Heo Jae-hyun and Kim Sung-hwan, staff reporters

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]