ICSID仲裁庭驳回韩国41（5）条下之异议
就中国公民闵先生与韩国之间ICSID仲裁案件（案号：No. ARB/20/26），ICSID仲裁庭近日驳回了韩国提出的、ICSID仲裁规则第41（5）条项下的异议。以下内容转自GAR报道。点击文末阅读原文查看GAR报道原文。
An ICSID tribunal has dismissed the bulk of South Korea’s expedited preliminary objections to a claim by an imprisoned Chinese real estate investor – as the state faces a new treaty claim over a port city redevelopment project.
On 18 June, a tribunal chaired by the UK’s Ian Glick QC and including Canadians Stephen L Drymer and Donald McRae ruled that only one of the claims asserted by Mr. Min was manifestly without legal merit. It deferred consideration of other objections.
GAR understands that Korea sought expedited dismissal of some of Min’s claims on the basis they were time-barred under the China-Korea bilateral investment treaty, which requires claims to be brought within three years of any known loss or damage.
King & Spalding in Singapore and Washington, DC and Hui Zhong Law Firm in Beijing are acting for Min. Korea has instructed Allen & Overy in Hong Kong, Singapore and Prague alongside Yulchon in Seoul.
Min filed his claim in July last year, seeking compensation for the alleged expropriation of his real estate company and for the conduct of court proceedings that led to his imprisonment.
The company received loans worth several hundred billion won from domestic financial companies which were eventually taken over by South Korea’s Woori Bank. After Min failed to repay, the bank sold his shares in the business – against which the loans had been secured – to foreign investors.
Min challenged the bank’s actions in Korean courts, but the Supreme Court ultimately ruled against him in 2017. That same year, Min was convicted on charges of embezzlement, misconduct and fraud in connection with his business and imprisoned. He remains in a Korean prison.
In his claim, Min alleges that the sale of the shares in his business by Woori was improper and constitute an expropriation. He says that between 2011 and 2015, the bank was controlled by the Korean government through the state-owned Korea Deposit Insurance Corporation.
He further alleges that there were various defects in the Korean court proceedings, both civil and criminal, amounting to a breach of the fair and equitable treatment standard of the BIT.
Min is seeking yet-to-be-quantified damages and his immediate release from prison.
The Ministry of Justice argues it is not responsible for Woori Bank, which is a privately owned company, and that there are no BIT violations arising from the Korean court proceedings.