Settlement in Korea's biggest conglomerate divorce set for May 30

The divorce settlement between SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and his estranged wife, Roh Soh-yeong, will be decided on by a Seoul court on Thursday.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, left, and his estranged wife Roh Soh-yeong answer questions from the press on April 16 at the Seoul High Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, where they made their last defenses for their divorce trial. [YONHAP]

The divorce settlement between SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and his estranged wife, Roh Soh-yeong, will be decided on by a Seoul court on Thursday.

The Seoul Family Court will make their ruling on the two’s settlement at 2 p.m. on Thursday, legal sources said Monday.

At the center of the settlement is how Chey’s fortune, an estimated 5 trillion won ($3.67 billion), will be split. Roh is asking for 2 trillion won in cash as her claim of alimony, after initially asking for half of Chey’s SK shares and 300 million won in the first trial. The ruling will depend on the two’s claims of how they contributed to the chairman's amassing of wealth.

Roh’s lawyers argued that her late father, President Roh Tae-woo, gave 34.3 billion won to Chey in the 1990s as a slush fund, claiming that the money was used in the acquisition of SK Group’s brokerage firm, SK Securities, in 1992, as well as to buy shares of Daehan Telecom, which later became SK C&C, in 1994.

Roh, who serves as a director at Art Center Nabi, asserts that Chey’s status as son-in-law to the president was significant in SK’s growth, and that she had also contributed to the group’s expansion over the 36 years they were married.

Chey’s legal team has countered that no such slush fund was given. They argue that this was proven in the investigation into the late president's funds in 1995.

The couple married in a ceremony at the Blue House in September 1988, the first year of President Roh's term. Chey publicly announced a new relationship and a daughter born out of wedlock in 2015, later filing for a divorce settlement in July 2017.

After failing to reach an agreement following his then-wife's opposition, Chey filed for divorce in February 2018. Roh filed a counter suit in December 2019 and claimed 300 million won in alimony and half of the 12,975,472 SK shares held by the group chairman.

It was ruled in the first trial in December 2022 that Chey should pay 66.5 billion won in property division to Roh — around 1 percent of his fortune — and that both pay 100 million won each in alimony. The court had ruled in favor of Chey’s claim that his shares were inherited and gifted property. Roh appealed against the ruling on Dec. 19, and Chey also filed an appeal three days later.

Meanwhile, the trial for SK’s lawsuit against Art Center Nabi is also underway, with the defense first scheduled to present on Friday. SK is demanding that the media art center, which is located on the fourth floor of the SK Building in Jongno District, central Seoul, vacate the premises.

Director Roh also filed a damages suit against Chey’s live-in partner, Kim Hee-young, in March, demanding 3 billion won in compensation for the mental stress Kim inflicted on Roh. The first ruling is set to be made in August.

Correction, Aug. 6: Corrected name of SK C&C from SK Telecom.

BY KIM JU-YEON [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]