Foreign Media Focuses on SK Chairman's 1 Trillion Won Divorce Settlement, Calling It Real-Life K-Drama of 'Corruption and Betrayal'

As SK hynix's corporate value surges due to the AI memory boom, the divorce and property division lawsuit involving SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is drawing intense overseas attention.

Major foreign media outlets have heavily covered the issue, analyzing that "as the importance of SK hynix grows, the economic fallout of this property division lawsuit has also expanded."

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) published an article featuring photos of Chairman Chey and Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi, under the headline, "An AI Tech Billionaire's Wealth Doubled, and His Ex-Wife Wants Half."

Reporting that Chairman Chey's wealth swelled to about $500 million after SK hynix emerged as a top beneficiary of the AI semiconductor boom, the outlet introduced the case as South Korea's "divorce of the century."

It also described the case as a "real-life K-drama intertwined with money, romance, corruption, and betrayal."

Bloomberg News covered the case under the headline, "SK Hynix Billionaire Faces New Ruling in Long-Running Divorce."

It assessed that the core of this ruling lies in how far South Korean courts will recognize the value of a spouse's contribution to the growth of a major conglomerate.

Foreign media are paying attention not only to the outcome of the lawsuit but also to how Chairman Chey will secure a massive amount of cash.

Bloomberg analyzed that if the scale of the property division is large, Chairman Chey may resort to borrowing or asset sales.

The Seoul High Court delivered a property division ruling of 944 billion won today in the remand trial of the divorce lawsuit between Chairman Chey and Director Roh.

Previously, the second instance court ordered Chairman Chey to pay 1.3808 trillion won in property division, but the Supreme Court returned the case to the Seoul High Court, stating there were issues with some judgments regarding the process of wealth formation.

Reported by Kim Jiuk | Video by Lee Da-in | Graphics by Yook Do-hyun | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.