Young Poong said it will continue to pursue the main lawsuit after an appeals court rejected its injunction request concerning the termination of a sulfuric acid handling contract with Korea Zinc.
The Seoul High Court's 25-2nd Civil Division (presided over by Chief Judges Hwang Byung-ha, Han Chang-hoon, and Lee Kyun-yong) on Wednesday dismissed Young Poong's appeal in its injunction request against Korea Zinc seeking to prohibit the refusal to deal. Since 2000, Young Poong has paid fees to use Korea Zinc's sulfuric acid tanks and pipelines at the Onsan smelter when transporting sulfuric acid produced at its Seokpo smelter in Bonghwa County, North Gyeongsang Province, to Onsan Port in Ulsan. When Korea Zinc terminated the contract in 2024, Young Poong filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent unfair trade practices along with an injunction request, but both the first and second injunction rulings rejected the request. The main lawsuit on preventing unfair trade practices is still in its first trial.
"This decision is ultimately a provisional judgment made at the injunction stage," Young Poong said. "Whether the refusal to deal violates the Fair Trade Act and whether it is unjust remain issues to be contested in the main lawsuit."
Young Poong views the essence of this matter as a management rights dispute. As the dispute over Korea Zinc's management control between Young Poong and Korea Zinc Chairman Choi Yun-beom escalated, Korea Zinc suspended the sulfuric acid handling contract with Young Poong. Young Poong subsequently sought to secure alternative facilities but was unable to build its own infrastructure due to issues involving port licensing, local community acceptance, and the national logistics system stemming from the handling of hazardous materials.
"The essence of this matter is a strategic severance of business ties in which Korea Zinc is using the supply chain of zinc, a core national base metal, as leverage in a management rights dispute to obstruct Young Poong's zinc production," a Young Poong official said. "We will contest Korea Zinc's unjust refusal to deal using every means permitted by law."
