Court Orders SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to Pay Roh Soh-young 944 Billion Won in Property Division

[Anchor]

In the remand trial for the property division lawsuit between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-young, the court has ruled that Chairman Chey must pay Director Roh 944 billion won. The court also determined that the SK shares owned by Chairman Chey are subject to division, recognizing one-third of the total joint property as Director Roh's share.

First, we have a report from Reporter Jang Hun-gyeong.

[Reporter]

The marriage of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-young drew massive public attention back in 1988 as a union between the eldest son of a chaebol family and the daughter of the sitting president.

The so-called "divorce of the century," which began in 2017 after Chairman Chey abruptly revealed his out-of-wedlock child in 2015, has finally reached a conclusion after nine years.

The Seoul High Court ordered Chairman Chey to pay 944 billion won to Director Roh in the remand trial of their divorce and property division lawsuit.

Although the divided amount decreased by about 400 billion won from the 1.3808 trillion won ruled in the second trial before the remand, the court recognized the SK shares held by Chairman Chey as subject to division.

The court rejected Chairman Chey's argument that the SK shares were inherited property from the late former chairman and therefore not subject to division.

The court explained, "During the marriage, the value of the shares increased significantly due to Chairman Chey's management activities, and Director Roh contributed through housekeeping, childcare, and external activities related to the SK Group."

However, the court did not accept Director Roh's argument that the valuation date for the shares subject to division should be the closing date of arguments in the remand trial, instead maintaining April 2024—the closing date of arguments in the previous appellate trial.

The court explained that although SK's stock price rose sharply after the close of arguments in the previous appellate trial, it could not be said that Chairman Chey's contributions had no impact.

Previously, in 2022, the first-instance court ordered Chairman Chey to pay Director Roh 66.5 billion won in property division and 100 million won in alimony. Two years later, the second-instance court drastically increased the property division to 1.3808 trillion won and alimony to 2 billion won.

In October of last year, the Supreme Court finalized the divorce and alimony rulings while ordering a remand to recalculate the property division amount, excluding the alleged slush funds of former President Roh Tae-woo.

(Video Editing: Lee Sang-min)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.