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Case file s987 · Modern estates · 2022
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2022
Kim Jung-ju: Kim Jung-ju presenting in 2016 (cropped)
Kim Jung-ju. nexoncomputermuseum. CC BY 3.0, Wikimedia Commons.
Died
February 2022
Place
Seoul, South Korea (died in the United States)
Field
video games (Nexon) · Business and finance on the timeline
Legal tradition
Korean inheritance tax law; payment of tax in shares (in kind) · Chinese and East Asian law
Historical event
Payment of Korean inheritance tax in shares
Modern estatesSeized by the stateNowNorth AmericaEast AsiaUnited States

Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju's family paid inheritance tax with 29.3 percent of his holding company, and the government could not find a buyer

Kim Jung-ju founded Nexon. He died in the United States in February 2022, aged 54. His widow, Yoo Jung-hyun, and their two daughters inherited about 10 trillion won, mostly shares in NXC, the unlisted holding company that controls Nexon. Their tax was estimated at about 6 trillion won. In 2023 they handed the Ministry of Economy and Finance 29.3 percent of NXC, 852,000 shares valued at 4.7 trillion won. The government became NXC's second-largest shareholder. The state asset manager, KAMCO, put the stake up for sale twice. No one bid. The shares were unlisted and carried no control. A 2019 programme lets heirs buy back shares paid as tax, but only in companies with revenue under 300 billion won, which excludes Nexon. In August 2024 NXC bought back about 645 billion won of shares from the widow and daughters, which completed their tax payment. In May 2026 NXC agreed to buy 184,001 of its shares back from the ministry at 5.558 million won each, about 1.02 trillion won. The government's stake falls from 30.64 percent to 23.96 percent, and to 25.68 percent once the shares are cancelled. The state remains a part-owner of Nexon's holding company.

What the law took from it

An estate made of unlisted shares can pay tax in shares, but the state then becomes a partner it may be hard to buy out.

Record vs. record

The Korea Times dates the share transfer to February 2023; Korea JoongAng Daily dates it to May 2023:

The Korea TimesKorea JoongAng Daily
Sources
  1. Korea JoongAng DailyPress
  2. The Korea TimesPress
  3. mdtoday.co.krPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “Nexon founder Kim Jung-ju's family paid inheritance tax with 29.3 percent of his holding company, and the government could not find a buyer,” story s987, https://www.celebrity.estate/kim-jung-ju-2022, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Modern estatesSeized by the stateNowNorth AmericaEast AsiaChinese and East Asian lawUnited States