SK Chairman Chey Appeals Prosecutor's Decision Not to Indict Over '100 Billion Won Spent on Cohabitant' Remarks

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won has filed an appeal against the prosecution's decision not to indict a lawyer representing Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong, who claimed that Chairman Chey spent more than 100 billion won on his cohabitant.

Chairman Chey's legal team claimed that the stated amount included funds paid to Director Roh and donations for public interest purposes, exaggerating the actual living expenses by "more than 50 times."

Chairman Chey's legal representatives released a statement today (the 15th) announcing that they have appealed the non-indictment decision regarding defamation charges against Attorney A, who represents Director Roh Soh-yeong, for spreading false information.

Chairman Chey's side stated, "The amount spent by Chairman Chey and Director Kim Hee-young on living expenses around the time of the claim was approximately 2 billion won," adding, "This was confirmed through financial transaction records and detailedly explained to the property division court, and both Director Roh and Attorney A were aware of this."

They pointed out, "The 100 billion won presented by Attorney A includes expenditures with completely different purposes, as well as funds spent on Director Roh herself and their three children."

Specifically, they explained that Attorney A regarded 20.4 billion won spent from a Kookmin Bank account opened during Chairman Chey's imprisonment as money used for his cohabitant, but that account was actually opened for Director Roh, and a significant portion of the expenditures consisted of money taken by Director Roh.

They also argued that contributions and donations for public interest purposes made to organizations such as the ChildFund Korea, the Community Chest of Korea, and the T&C Foundation were incorrectly counted as gifts.

They took issue with the fact that a house solely under Chairman Chey's name and artworks were included.

They stated that there is a contradiction in Director Roh's side demanding the division of the same assets as jointly owned marital property in court while claiming to the press that they were assets gifted to Director Kim.

Regarding the meaning of the prosecution's non-indictment decision, they emphasized, "It is in the sense that there is insufficient evidence to prove awareness of the false information," adding, "There is no judgment anywhere in the disposition confirming that the disseminated figures are true."

Previously, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, which investigated the case, issued a non-indictment decision on the 9th regarding Attorney A's defamation charges due to insufficient evidence.

Attorney A was sued by Chairman Chey after telling reporters during a damages suit filed by Director Roh against Director Kim in November 2023, "The money Chairman Chey has spent on Director Kim exceeds 100 billion won just considering the period since 2015."

However, the prosecution concluded that there was some basis for Attorney A's remarks and that Chairman Chey's side failed to present sufficient rebuttal evidence to overturn them.
 
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.