SK chairman ordered to pay $1 billion in divorce settlement case

The Seoul High Court ruled that Chey Tae-won must pay his estranged wife, Roh Soh-yeong, around 36 percent of his fortune in their bitter divorce settlement case.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, left, and his estranged wife Roh Soh-yeong attend a hearing held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on April 16. [NEWS1]

The Seoul High Court ruled on Thursday that SK Chairman Chey Tae-won must pay 1.38 trillion won ($1 billion) in property division and 2 billion won in alimony to his estranged wife, Roh Soh-yeong, making it the most expensive divorce suit yet in Korea.

Shares of SK jumped by 9.26 percent to close at 158,100 won following the decision, as conglomerate family disputes about shareholding and wealth could instigate aggressive purchases of the stock. The appellate court ruled in favor of Roh's claims that her late father, President Roh Tae-woo, had contributed to SK Group's growth by giving 34.3 billion won in slush funds to the former and current SK chairmen in the 1990s to buy a securities firm and SK shares.

The court also determined that the late president had used his position to "protect" the management practices of her husband's late father, former SK Group Chairman Chey Jong-hyun.

This rendered the current chairman's shares and fortune community property.

The decision thus overturned the family court's ruling that Chey was not required to divide his SK shares — which Roh had initially claimed as part of the settlement — as they were recognized as inherited property.

The court determined the two's combined property to be 4 trillion won in total, and ordered that it be divided by a rate of 65 percent for Chey and 35 percent for Roh.

The lower court in 2022 ordered Chey to pay 66.5 billion won in property division to Roh while also ruling that both must pay 100 million won to each other in alimony.

SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong, daughter of the late president Roh Tae-woo, married in 1988. Chey filed for a divorce settlement in 2017. [NAM JUNG-HYUN]

The high court also took Chey's extramarital affair and Roh's claims that he cut off living expenses into account in its decision.

"He suspended her credit card since February 2019 despite their relationship being unresolved, and also cut off cash for living expenses since the first trial ruling."

"He has not shown any sincere remorse for his dishonest conduct during the [divorce] proceedings and did not respect monogamy," the court added.

Roh said the ruling "excellently pondered the constitutional value of the sanctity of marriage and monogamy" shortly after the ruling was made.

Chey's lawyers, however, contested what they called an "overly biased" ruling, saying the claims made by Roh, particularly the ones regarding the late president funding and politically aiding SK, were false and unfounded. The chairman said he will appeal the decision.

The couple married in September 1988. Chey publicly announced an extramarital partner and a child born out of wedlock in 2015, later filing for a divorce settlement in July 2017.

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

The two both appealed the first ruling that came out in December 2022. Roh asked for 2 trillion won in cash instead of SK shares in March of this year.

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