On May. 30., the Seoul High Court Family Division 2 ruled that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won must pay 1.38 trillion won (about $1.03 billion) in property division and 2 billion won (about $145,296) in alimony to his wife, Roh So-young, the director of Art Center Nabi. This ruling marks the highest property division in the history of South Korean divorce cases and is expected to impact SK Group’s management significantly.
Neither Chey nor Roh attended the courtroom proceedings. The court acknowledged Roh’s contribution to the increase in value of Chey’s assets, including SK stock, and ruled that these assets should be considered joint property. Additionally, the court noted that the chairman had spent over 21.9 billion (about $15.91 million) on his live-in partner Kim Hee-young, and decided that the initial alimony awarded was insufficient.
The court calculated that 4.11 trillion won (about $2.91 billion) in property to be divided, including Chey’s SK shares, and set the division ratio at 65% for Chey and 35% for Roh. Consequently, Chey was ordered to pay 1.38 trillion won in property division and 2 billion won in alimony in cash. The decision considered that Roh’s late father, former President Roh Tae-woo, had provided Chey with 30 billion won (about $21.79 million) in secret funds, which contributed to the foundation of Chey’s wealth and SK Group’s growth.
In contrast, the first court had ruled that SK shares were “special property” purchased with funds from Chey’s predecessor, the former SK Group Chairman Chey Jong-hyun, and were not subject to division as Roh did not contribute to their acquisition.
Following the ruling, Roh’s legal team praised the decision, highlighting its alignment with constitutional values of marital purity and monogamy. Chey’s defense team, however, expressed their intention to appeal, criticizing the ruling as speculative and unsupported by evidence and warning of its potential repercussions on SK Group’s future.
Chey and Roh married in September 1988, during Roh Tae-woo’s presidency. Divorce proceedings began in 2015 after Chey revealed his extramarital affair. Initially, he refused to divorce, but in December 2019, Roh filed a counterclaim for property division.
