SEOUL, 13 September, 2026 (Nosheen): South Korea has won a final ruling in a 264-billion-won ($197 million) investor-state dispute after an annulment panel rejected Chinese investor Min Fengzhen’s challenge to the dismissal of her claim in 2024, the South Korean Justice Ministry said on Sunday. The ministry said the decision marked South Korea’s first victory following a full hearing of an international investor claim. The case involved Min’s allegations that South Korea had violated protections under an investment treaty between South Korea and China following a lender’s seizure and sale of pledged shares linked to a failed Beijing property project. An original tribunal dismissed the claim in 2024, ruling that the investment was illegal and therefore not protected under the treaty. The annulment panel also ordered Min to pay South Korea approximately 1.5 billion won in legal costs related to the annulment proceedings, according to the Justice Ministry.