[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 distribute about 2.5 trillion won in assets to his spouse. This marks the largest property division in history, more than double the amount awarded in the divorce case of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won.

Reporter Jang Hun-gyeong has the details.

[Reporter]

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

The first-instance ruling comes about four years after Lee filed the lawsuit in November 2022.

The court ruled, "Kwon must pay a total of 2.55 trillion won to Lee as property division, consisting of 35 percent of Smilegate shares and 65 billion won in cash."

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

In terms of the scale of property division, this is more than double the previous record of 944 billion won set in July during the remand trial of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, making it the largest amount ever.

The court stated, "We highly evaluated Kwon's business capabilities and contributions," but added, "Taking into full consideration the economic support provided by Lee's family in the early stages of the marriage and the course of the marital life," it set the stock division ratio at 65 percent for Kwon and 35 percent for Lee.

However, the court dismissed the claim for alimony, judging that both parties bore equal responsibility for the breakdown of the marriage. It designated Lee as the custodian of 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 the family.

Immediately after the ruling, Kwon's legal representative stated, "We will review the judgment in detail and consult with our client regarding future procedures," while Lee's side said, "We respect the court's decision."

(Video reporting: In Pil-sung, Video editing: Kim Yoon-sung, Source footage: Smilegate)