Prosecution Decides Not to Indict Roh Soh-yeong's Lawyer Over Remarks That Chey Tae-won Spent Over 86 Billion Won on Common-Law Partner

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office decided yesterday (September 9) not to indict a lawyer representing Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi, due to insufficient evidence regarding a defamation complaint filed by SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.

The controversial remarks were made in November 2023, following a preparatory hearing for a damages lawsuit filed by Director Roh against Kim Hee-young, former chairperson of the T&C Foundation and Chairman Chey's common-law partner.

During the gathering, Lawyer A, representing Director Roh, told multiple reporters, "It is highly likely that the money Chairman Chey has spent on Chairperson Kim exceeds 100 billion won," adding, "It is several times more than the amounts spent while maintaining a family life with Director Roh and their children."

The next day, during an interview with a broadcasting station, the lawyer showed a document listing approximately 86.5 billion won and stated, "When adding the money handed over to Chairperson Kim's family, the foundation, and their out-of-wedlock child, it exceeds 100 billion won," and "It is three times more than the money spent on married life with Director Roh."

In response, Chairman Chey filed a complaint against Lawyer A, arguing, "The appellate ruling in the divorce lawsuit recognized Chairman Chey's expenditures related to Chairperson Kim as 21.9 billion won," and "Using definitive expressions to state false facts defamed Chairman Chey's character."

However, the prosecution did not accept Chairman Chey's claims.

The prosecution stated, "The appellate court for the divorce lawsuit could not specify the exact consumption expenditure related to Chairperson Kim because it was impossible to pinpoint a specific amount."

At the same time, the prosecution noted, "It is reasonable to view expenditures related to Chairperson Kim as including 13.3 billion won that Chairman Chey contributed to the T&C Foundation, approximately 4.3 billion won transferred to Chairperson Kim and her family, and about 30 billion won for construction costs of the Hannam-dong residence where Chairman Chey and Chairperson Kim live."

In particular, the prosecution cited a separate case in which the Seoul Northern District Court acquitted a YouTuber—who had been charged with defamation for claiming that "Chairman Chey spent 100 billion won on Chairperson Kim"—on the grounds that "expenditures related to Chairperson Kim could realistically amount to between 65 billion and 70 billion won, or even more," as a reason for the non-indictment decision.

Meanwhile, Chairman Chey has appealed to the Supreme Court against the remand ruling in the property division lawsuit ordering him to pay 944 billion won in cash to Director Roh. Recently, he submitted an application to the court to reduce the scope of his appeal, stating he will contest only the portion exceeding 700 billion won.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.