In June 2020, during a financial review meeting at her home, Kim Young-shik and her daughter confronted LG executives about the division of their family's substantial LG shares following the death of her husband, Koo Bon-moo, and recorded their discussions, which revealed potential illegal activities involving nominee shareholding that resulted in a lawsuit alleging unfair inheritance practices and tax evasion against LG's current chairman, Koo Kwang-mo, amid a backdrop of familial loyalty and corporate secrecy within South Korea's chaebol system. #CorporateGovernance #InheritanceRights #Chaebol #KR #JP
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Secret Recordings, Hidden Shares and a Family Rift at South Korea's LG
On a Thursday afternoon in June 2020, two executives from the LG finance department arrived at the hilltop home of Kim Young-shik, the widow of the company's previous chairman, for what was supposed to be a routine review of her family's finances.