Smilegate Founder Kwon Hyuk-bin Divorced... Record 2.5 Trillion Won Property Division

[Anchor]

In the first trial of the divorce lawsuit involving Kwon Hyuk-bin, the founder of South Korean game company Smilegate, a court has ordered him to split assets worth around 2.5 trillion won with his spouse. This is the largest property division in history, more than double the amount in the divorce case of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.

Reporter Jang Hun-gyeong has the details.

[Reporter]

The Seoul Family Court accepted the divorce petition filed by Lee, the spouse of Smilegate founder Kwon Hyuk-bin.

The first-trial ruling was delivered about four years after Lee filed the lawsuit in November 2022.

The court ordered, "Kwon must pay a total of 2.55 trillion won in property division to Lee, comprising 35% of Smilegate shares and 650 billion won in cash."

The court estimated the value of Kwon's 100% stake in Smilegate at 7.1 trillion won.

In terms of the scale of property division, this is the largest amount in history, more than double the 944 billion won awarded in the remand trial of SK Chairman Chey Tae-won last July.

While stating that it "highly evaluated Kwon's business acumen and contributions," the court explained that it set the share division ratio at 65% for Kwon and 35% for Lee after "comprehensively considering factors such as the economic support provided by Lee's family in the early stages of the marriage and the course of the marital life."

However, the court dismissed the claim for alimony, judging that both sides shared equal responsibility for the breakdown of the marriage. It designated Lee as the custodian for their minor children and ordered Kwon to pay 20 million won per month in child support.

Kwon, who married Lee in 2001, founded Smilegate the following year.

The couple entered a separation in 2020, and two years later, Lee filed for divorce, claiming that Kwon had been neglectful of his family.

Immediately following the ruling, Kwon's legal representative stated, "We will review the judgment text later and discuss future procedures with our client," while Lee's side stated, "We respect the court's decision."

(Camera: In Pil-sung, Video Editing: Kim Yun-seong, Source: Smilegate)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.