Ruling on Chey Tae-won and Roh Soh-yeong's Divorce Asset Division Remand Trial Set for July 24

The ruling in the divorce asset division remand trial between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong will be delivered on July 24.

Family Division 1 of the Seoul High Court held the second hearing today (June 26) in the property division remand trial between the two sides.

The court concluded the pleading proceedings and scheduled the ruling for 2 p.m. on July 24.

The trial, which both Chairman Chey and Director Roh attended in person, began at 10 a.m. and concluded in 50 minutes.

Roh arrived at the court at around 9:44 a.m.

She entered the courtroom without answering reporters' questions, which included whether she believed progress had been made toward an agreement and whether the reference date for calculating the SK stock price had been determined.

Chey made his appearance at around 9:51 a.m.

When asked whether he was contesting the case under the premise of recognizing SK shares as marital property subject to division, Chey only replied, "I will finish this well and return."

Both left the court after the hearing without answering any further questions.

This hearing was the first formal argument held since court-ordered mediation failed on June 15.

It is understood that both sides presented arguments favorable to their respective positions regarding the scale and method of the asset division.

Both Chey and Roh reportedly made direct statements during the hearing.

The court is expected to rule in accordance with the intent of the Supreme Court's decision in October last year.

If either side objects to the ruling, they can appeal to the Supreme Court again.

The core issue of the lawsuit is whether the SK shares held by Chey should be considered subject to property division.

Chey's side maintains that the SK shares are separate property acquired through inheritance and gifts, and therefore are not subject to division.

Roh's side argues that the shares should be viewed as marital property, as she supported his management activities by taking full charge of domestic duties, including raising their children.

The reference date for the property division is also expected to have a significant impact on the outcome of the ruling.

This is because the valuation of the assets could differ by more than fivefold depending on whether the reference date is set as April 16, 2024—the date when arguments closed in the appellate court (the trial of fact in the divorce suit)—or the date when arguments close in this remand trial.

At the time arguments closed in the trial of fact, the stock price of SK Inc. was 160,000 won.

At that time, the value of the SK shares held by Chey was around 2.07 trillion won.

With SK's stock price recently surging to over 800,000 won, the value of his shareholdings has also jumped significantly.

Chey and Roh married in September 1988 and have three children.

The two have been locked in legal battles for nine years, starting with Chey's application for divorce mediation in 2017.

In December 2022, the court of first instance ordered Chey to pay Roh 100 million won in alimony and 66.5 billion won in property division.

In May 2024, the appellate court raised the alimony Chey had to pay to 2 billion won.

It also drastically increased the property division amount to 1.3808 trillion won.

The appellate court ruled that former President Roh Tae-woo's "30 billion won slush fund" and Roh's contributions had played a role in the growth of SK Group.

Accordingly, it deemed Chey's stake in SK Inc. to be subject to property division.

However, in October last year, the Supreme Court ruled that the former president's slush fund was illegal money.

The top court remanded the case for a retrial, stating that even if the money had flowed into SK, it could not be considered as Roh's contribution in the division of assets.

The remand court held its first hearing on January 9 this year and referred the case to mediation three months later.

However, mediation fell through as the two sides failed to narrow their differences on key issues, including whether the SK shares should be subject to property division.

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