LG's chairman adopted his nephew as heir; his widow and daughters sued to undo the share split and the adoption, and lost both in 2026

LG chairman Koo Bon-moo lost his only son in an accident. In 2004 he adopted his nephew Koo Kwang-mo, eldest son of his younger brother Koo Bon-neung. LG said the adoption followed Confucian tradition to continue the family leadership. Koo Bon-moo died in 2018 with an estate of about 2 trillion won, including 11.28 percent of the holding company LG Corp. After about five months of talks the four heirs agreed a split. Koo Kwang-mo took 8.76 percentage points of LG Corp. The widow, Kim Young-sik, took no shares. The daughters, Koo Yeon-kyung and Koo Yeon-soo, took 2.01 and 0.51 percent, and the three women received assets worth 500 billion won in total. In February 2023 the three women sued Koo Kwang-mo, saying they had agreed because they believed a will left him all the shares, and asking for statutory shares. LG's finance chief testified in October 2023 that a memo, not a will, said all shares should go to Kwang-mo, that all heirs signed it, and that it was destroyed afterwards. On 12 February 2026 the court rejected the suit: even if the women were misled, the agreement stood. They appealed on 4 March 2026. In November 2024 the widow petitioned to end her adoptive relationship with Kwang-mo. The Seoul Family Court dismissed that petition on 3 September 2026. The inheritance appeal is pending.