The Seoul Family Court on Thursday rejected an attempt by Kim Young-sik, widow of late LG Group Chair Koo Bon-moo, to legally sever her adoptive relationship with LG Group Chair Koo Kwang-mo.
The court dismissed Kim’s suit without disclosing its reasoning.
Kim filed the case in November 2024 amid a separate legal battle over the division of her late husband’s estate.
Koo Kwang-mo is the biological son of Koo Bon-neung, chair of Heesung Group and younger brother of Koo Bon-moo. The late LG chief adopted his nephew in 2004 after losing his only son in an accident.
The adoption positioned Koo Kwang-mo as his successor, in line with LG’s longstanding practice of transferring family control to the eldest male heir.
After Koo Bon-moo died in 2018, Koo Kwang-mo inherited most of his stake in holding company LG Corp. and became its largest shareholder.
The inheritance dispute emerged in 2023, when Kim and her two daughters — LG Welfare Foundation CEO Koo Yeon-kyung and Koo Yeon-soo — sued for a redistribution of the estate. That case remains pending before the trial court.
yeeun@heraldcorp.com
