South Korea has won an international investment dispute against Swiss elevator manufacturer Schindler, following its earlier victory against U.S. hedge fund Elliott Management. The ruling rejected Schindler's entire claim of approximately 320 billion won ($230 million) in damages, preventing a significant outflow from state coffers.
The Ministry of Justice announced on Wednesday that the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) tribunal dismissed all of Schindler's claims. Minister of Justice Jung Sung-ho stated, "The PCA arbitral tribunal in this case has rejected all of Schindler's claims."
The ruling not only dismissed the full 320 billion won damages claim but also ordered Schindler to bear approximately 9.6 billion won in legal costs incurred by the Korean government.
The case originated from a management rights dispute between Hyundai Elevator and its second-largest shareholder Schindler over capital increases and call option transfers. Schindler argued that various financial and governance measures taken by Hyundai Elevator between 2013 and 2015 damaged its stake value, and that Korean government agencies including the Fair Trade Commission, Financial Services Commission, and Financial Supervisory Service failed to properly regulate or investigate these matters.
Schindler's shareholding was diluted from 35% to approximately 15% when Hyundai Group Chairwoman Hyun Jeong-eun, the controlling shareholder of Hyundai Elevator, conducted capital increases. The company filed an ISDS claim against Korea in 2018, initially seeking approximately 500 billion won before reducing the final claim to 320 billion won.
The tribunal found that Korean regulatory agencies' actions were neither arbitrary nor discriminatory, and that sufficient investigations were conducted within their legitimate authority. It concluded that Korea did not violate investment treaty obligations and bore no state responsibility under international law.
"This ruling clearly affirms the principle that regulatory actions reasonably carried out by a state for legitimate public interest purposes must be respected under international law," Minister Jung said. "Following the Lone Star and Elliott cases, this victory is cementing Korea's excellent ISDS response capabilities in the international community."
Korea has achieved consecutive victories in ISDS cases brought by global investors. In the Lone Star case, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) initially ordered Korea to pay $216.5 million plus interest in 2022, but annulled that ruling in November 2025.
In the Elliott case involving the 2015 Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries merger, the PCA ordered Korea to pay approximately $100 million in 2023. However, the UK Court of Appeal accepted Korea's appeal in 2025, and in February this year, a UK court overturned parts of the arbitral award while remanding other issues back to the tribunal.
"Going forward, our government will devote all our efforts to responding to international investment disputes, preventing the outflow of national wealth and protecting national interests," Minister Jung said.