Even Excluding Roh Tae-woo's 30. Billion Won Slush Fund... 'SK Shares Subject to Division'

[Anchor]

The transfer of some 30 billion won estimated to be from Roh Tae-woo was not recognized as a contribution by Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong, following a Supreme Court ruling. Nevertheless, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won must pay an astronomical sum approaching 1 trillion won. The crucial factor was the court's judgment that SK shares constitute joint property formed and maintained by the couple together.

This is legal affairs correspondent Im Chanjong.

[Reporter]

In October of last year, the Supreme Court overturned the property division portion of the appellate ruling in the divorce lawsuit between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong.

There were two reasons.

First, the approximately 30 billion won gifted to Chairman Chey's side by Director Roh's father, Roh Tae-woo, was illegal funds and therefore could not be seen as a contribution by Director Roh to property accumulation. Second, assets gifted by Chairman Chey to relatives and others prior to the breakdown of the marital relationship were not subject to division.

Reflecting the Supreme Court's judgment, the remanded appellate court also stated that Roh Tae-woo's gift would not be taken into account in calculating the property division ratio, and also excluded from division the assets that Chairman Chey had gifted to third parties before the breakdown of the marriage.

Nevertheless, the remanded appellate court ruled that the amount of property division for Director Roh's share would be 944 billion won.

The determining factor was the judgment that shares held by Chairman Chey, including SK shares, were subject to division.

The court stated that even if Roh Tae-woo's gift is not evaluated as a contribution by Director Roh's side, the shares held by Chairman Chey are assets acquired under Chairman Chey's name during the marriage, and both individuals are recognized as having contributed to their formation, maintenance, and increase in value.

Accordingly, the court calculated Director Roh's share ratio at 1/3 of the total, or approximately 33.3%, reducing it only slightly from the 35% set by the second trial.

Considering that the second trial court had determined the ratio by judging Roh Tae-woo's gift as a contribution to be considered in property division, this is interpreted as the remanded appellate court concluding that even if that part is subtracted, there is no significant difference in the division ratio.

(Photo courtesy of Yang Hyun-cheol | Video Editing: Kim Yoon-sung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.