The justice ministry says the amount of compensation that it has to pay the U.S. private equity firm Lone Star has been reduced by roughly 480-thousand U.S. dollars, or some 600 million won. 

The ministry announced on Tuesday that the Washington-based International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes(ICSID) accepted Seoul’s request to reduce the amount of compensation in the multi-billion dollar damages lawsuit filed by the U.S. firm against the South Korean government.

The ministry said that in line with the international arbitration institution’s decision, Seoul will now have to pay 216 million U.S. dollars in damages, or around 481-thousand-300 dollars less than the initial amount ordered by the ICSID last August.

Last October, the justice ministry had requested the ICSID to adjust the amount of damages, saying they were overcalculated. 

In a separate move, the ministry is considering requesting the arbitration institution to invalidate its ruling on the damages suit. 

Last August, the ICSID, affiliated with the World Bank, ordered the South Korean government to pay 216-point-five million U.S. dollars to Lone Star, or four-point-six percent of the four-point-68 billion dollars demanded by the U.S. firm. 

The U.S. equity firm claimed that the South Korean government was responsible for its botched attempt to sell its stake of the Korea Exchange Bank to HSBC in 2007, four years after it purchased its shares in the Korean bank, through delayed approval and heavy taxes. It was eventually sold to Seoul-based Hana Financial Group in 2010.

The Seoul government maintained that Lone Star was treated fairly under the same standards as any domestic firm.