▲ SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won (left) and Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong head to the courtroom to attend the second hearing of the retrial on remand over their asset division at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on Friday.
The ruling in the retrial on remand of the asset division lawsuit between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won (66) and Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong (65) will be delivered on July 24.
Family Division 1 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Lee Sang-joo) held the second hearing of the retrial on remand for the couple's asset division lawsuit on Friday, concluding the pleadings and scheduling the ruling for 2 p.m. on July 24.
The hearing, which both Chairman Chey and Director Roh attended in person, began at 10 a.m. and concluded in 50 minutes.
Director Roh, who arrived at the court at around 9:44 a.m., entered the courtroom without answering reporters' questions, such as "Do you think there has been progress toward an agreement?" and "Has the reference point for calculating the SK stock price been decided?"
Chairman Chey, who appeared shortly after at around 9:51 a.m., only said, "I will finish up well and return," when asked questions including "Are you contesting the SK shares under the assumption that they are recognized as joint property subject to division?"
The two also left the court in silence after the hearing ended.
Today's hearing was the first formal pleading held since the mediation fell through on June 15, and the two sides reportedly presented arguments favorable to their respective positions regarding the scale and method of the asset division.
The court is expected to deliver a ruling in line with the purpose of the Supreme Court's decision in October last year. If either side objects to the outcome, they can appeal to the Supreme Court again.
The core issue of the lawsuit is whether the SK shares held by Chairman Chey should be subject to division.
Chey's side argues that the SK shares are separate property acquired through inheritance or gift and are therefore not subject to division, while Roh's side contends that they should be viewed as joint property subject to division, as she supported his management by taking full charge of domestic labor, including child-rearing.
The reference point for the asset division is also expected to have a significant impact on the ruling.
This is because the valuation could differ by more than fivefold depending on whether the reference point is set as April 16, 2024, the date the appellate court closed its pleadings, or the date the pleadings of the ongoing retrial on remand are concluded.
Based on the date the pleadings of the trial on facts were concluded, the SK stock price was 160,000 won, making the value of the SK shares held by Chey around 2.07 trillion won. However, with the recent surge in SK's stock price to around 800,000 won, the value has also jumped significantly.
Chey and Roh married in September 1988 and have three children. However, starting with Chey's application for divorce mediation in 2017, they have been engaged in a grueling legal battle for nine years.
In December 2022, the first-instance court in the divorce and asset division lawsuit ordered Chey to pay Roh 100 million won in alimony and 66.5 billion won in cash for asset division.
In May 2024, the appellate court drastically increased the amount, ordering Chey to pay 2 billion won in alimony and 1.3808 trillion won in asset division.
This was based on the court's judgment that the 30 billion won slush fund of former President Roh Tae-woo and Roh's contributions played a role in the growth of SK Group, making Chey's shares in SK Corp. subject to asset division.
However, in October last year, the Supreme Court ruled that because former President Roh's slush fund was illegal capital, even if the money flowed into SK, it could not be considered as Roh's contribution to the asset division, and remanded the case for a retrial.
The retrial court held its first hearing on January 9 this year and referred the case to mediation three months later.
But the mediation fell through as the two sides failed to narrow their differences on key issues, such as whether the SK shares are subject to asset division.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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