Court rejects LG chief's adoptive mother's petition to end adoption

A Seoul family court denied a request on Thursday from Kim Young-sik, the widow of LG Group Chairman Koo Bon-moo and the adoptive mother of Koo Kwang-mo, to dissolve their adoptive relationship. The court did not provide specific reasons for its decision during the proceedings. Kim submitted the petition in November 2024, concurrently with a separate inheritance dispute she was entangled in with Koo Kwang-mo over assets belonging to her deceased husband.

Koo Kwang-mo is the biological son of Koo Bon-neung, chairman of Heesung Group and Koo Bon-moo's younger brother. After losing his only child in an accident, Koo Bon-moo adopted his nephew in 2004, a decision seen as setting the stage for LG Group's traditional firstborn-son succession principle. Following Koo Bon-moo's demise in 2018, Koo Kwang-mo became LG Group's largest shareholder, inheriting the majority of his adoptive father's shares. The inheritance conflict commenced in 2023, when Kim and her two daughters initiated legal action.