Tongyang Life Insurance building. /Courtesy of Tongyang Life Insurance

This article was published on June 25, 2025, at 4:21 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.

A dispute between Lee Min-joo, chairman of Atinum Partners, and Yuanta Securities Korea, which participated in the past sale of Tongyang Life Insurance, has been referred to mediation. Earlier, Yuanta assumed liability for compensation related to meat collateral loans that it had to pay during the process of transferring Tongyang Life Insurance to China's Anbang Insurance Group, and filed a lawsuit against Lee for the return of part of that amount.

According to the investment banking (IB) industry and legal circles on the 25th, the Seoul Central District Court recently decided to refer the lawsuit for reimbursement filed by Yuanta against Lee to mediation. It has been confirmed that both Yuanta and Lee have received the court's decision to refer the case for mediation. In this case, Yuanta is represented by Shin & Kim LLC, while Lee is represented by Daeil Law Firm.

Mediation is a procedure that encourages the parties to voluntarily resolve their disputes rather than go to trial. If the parties cannot reach an amicable agreement, the court will issue a forced mediation with specific conditions. Accepting this has the effect of a final judgment, but if either party raises an objection, the case will revert back to litigation. Currently, Yuanta has submitted a request for a prompt mediation date.

Earlier, Anbang Insurance Group applied to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) for arbitration to claim damages, stating that Yuanta Securities, Lee, and domestic private equity fund (PEF) operator VIG Partners, among other sellers, violated the representations and warranties during the process of acquiring Tongyang Life Insurance in 2017. This was on the grounds that they suffered losses amounting to billions of won from selling equity without notifying the risks of meat collateral loans. A meat collateral loan is when distributors take out loans from financial institutions using meat stored in a warehouse as collateral.

In 2020, the International Arbitration Court recognized the liability of the sellers and ordered Anbang Insurance to pay 166.6 billion won in damages. Subsequently, Anbang Insurance applied to the domestic court for ‘approval and enforcement of the arbitration award’ to execute the arbitration ruling in Korea. Our courts also sided with Anbang Insurance, ordering the payment of damages.

Yuanta Securities Korea, facing delays in determining the damage ratio as the special purpose company (SPC) of the joint seller VIG Partners was liquidating, first paid a total of 191.1 billion won, including compensation and delay interest. After that, in January and March, respectively, it filed reimbursement claims against VIG Partners and Lee based on the equity stakes at that time (VIG Partners 57.5%, Yuanta Securities Korea 3%, Lee 2.5%).

At that time, Yuanta Securities Korea noted that “the court specifies that exercising the right of reimbursement among joint sellers based on the internal burden ratio is permissible,” and explained, “We filed a reimbursement claim against the joint sellers based on this.”

Meanwhile, the lawsuit filed by Yuanta Securities Korea against VIG Partners is expected to proceed through trial without mediation. The first hearing date is scheduled for August 28.