▲ Kwon Hyuk-bin, CVO of Smilegate
A court has ruled in favor of granting a divorce for Kwon Hyuk-bin, Chief Vision Officer (CVO) of South Korean game developer Smilegate and chairman of Heemang Studio.
On the 9th, the Family Division 3 of the Seoul Family Court (Presiding Judge Jung Dong-hyuk) accepted the divorce petition filed by Kwon's wife, surnamed Lee, ruling that "the defendant (CVO Kwon) shall distribute and physically transfer 35 percent of Smilegate shares to the plaintiff (Lee) as property division."
This marks the first-instance ruling delivered approximately four years after Lee filed the lawsuit in November 2022.
The court explained, "After reviewing the background of the prolonged conflict between both parties and the possibility of relationship recovery, we determined that the marital relationship has broken down irretrievably." It added, "Since the responsibility lies with both the plaintiff and the defendant to an equal degree, the plaintiff's divorce claim is accepted, but the claim for alimony is dismissed."
The court assessed the value of Smilegate shares held by CVO Kwon at approximately 7.1 trillion won.
Consequently, if this ruling is finalized, the value of the shares CVO Kwon is required to pay is estimated at around 2.4 trillion won.
This level breaks the record for the highest property division amount ever awarded in a domestic divorce and property division lawsuit in South Korea.
Among the domestic chaebol family divorce lawsuits disclosed to date, the largest property division amount was 944 billion won ordered in the remanding appeals trial between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Noh Soh-yeong on July 26.
Born in 1974, CVO Kwon graduated from Sogang University's Department of Electronic Engineering in 1999, married Lee in 2001, and founded Smilegate the following year.
The couple entered separation in 2020, and two years later, Lee filed for divorce, claiming that CVO Kwon had neglected the family.
Throughout the litigation process, Lee argued that she contributed to management, having held a 30 percent stake during the early stages of Smilegate's founding and being registered as a representative director and internal director.
Considering that she had taken charge of household chores for over 20 years, she demanded half of Smilegate's shares held by CVO Kwon.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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