Favoritism and Corporate Law: The Confused Corporate Opportunity Doctrine in the Hyundai Motor Case

Abstract

Core legal principles of U.S. corporate law are often met with perplexity in foreign jurisdictions – this is especially true when a particular principle remains controversial even in the U.S. This Article takes the corporate opportunity doctrine and examines how it has been exported to the civil law regime in Korea. Korean conglomerates such as Samsung Group and Hyundai Motor Group have become major players in the global market, but corporate law and practice in Korea have had a difficult time keeping up with the developments in the business sector. The Hyundai Motor Case demonstrates an ambitious but ill-fated attempt at adoption of U.S. corporate legal doctrine in Korea. This Article explains and analyzes the case and the new codified corporate opportunity doctrine rule in the Korean Commercial Code from a comparative perspective, and suggests that the dialogue surrounding the corporate opportunity doctrine in Korean legal and business communities are oriented in the wrong direction and that the new rule needs substantial refinement.