The third hearing of a multi-billion-dollar case the U.S. private equity firm Lone Star filed against South Korea over its asset sell-offs will be held in The Hague in January, the Justice Ministry here said Thursday.

Lone Star and the South Korean government will counter each other at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in the Netherlands from Jan. 5-8 over the equity fund's 2003 purchase of a controlling stake in Korea Exchange (KEB) and its sell-off, the ministry said.

Lone Star is demanding nearly US$4.68 billion from the Korean government, claiming it paid unfair taxes and suffered losses due to Seoul's delay in approving a profitable deal.

South Korea rejects the claims, saying it has treated foreign investors in a fair and legitimate manner.

The ICSID held two hearings each in May and July in Washington, which largely focused on the alleged procedural delay and tax issues.

Lone Star claims it ended up selling off the KEB stake for a margin much smaller than what it could have gained from an earlier deal that ultimately fell apart because of Seoul's delay in approving the contract.

In 2007, the Texas-based firm had agreed to sell its 51-percent stake in KEB to global banking giant HSBC for about 5.94 trillion won, but HSBC scrapped the contract a year later amid the global financial crisis.

Lone Star sold the stake to Hana Financial Group for some 3.9 trillion won in 2012. (Yonhap)