SK chairman's wife accepts ruling for gallery to vacate company headquarters

Roh Soh-yeong, the estranged wife of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, said she will accept the court order for her gallery, Art Center Nabi, to vacate the SK Seorin Building.

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

Roh Soh-yeong, the estranged wife of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, will not appeal a recent court decision ordering her art gallery to vacate its current location at an SK building.

Art Center Nabi, headed by Roh, released a statement Monday saying that it has “decided not to file an appeal out of respect for the judicial ruling, which decided that civil law compels [the art gallery] to accept SK’s unreasonable demand.”

However, the gallery stressed that “the previous court ruling by the Seoul High Court stated that Chairman Chey and SK’s demand for Art Center Nabi to vacate from the SK Seorin Building is inappropriate,” adding that “we once again express strong regret that Chey did not take appropriate action such as a withdrawal of the case” despite the court’s judgment.

On June 21, the Seoul Central District Court ruled that Art Center Nabi must vacate the SK Seorin Building owned by SK Innovation in central Seoul.

“Since the plaintiff legally terminated the lease according to the agreed date, the defendant is obligated to deliver the premises,” the court stated.

Roh is also required to pay 1 billion won ($724,000) in damages for the delay in moving out.

The gallery and Roh argued that the eviction should be suspended until the ongoing divorce settlement is concluded, but their claims were not acknowledged by the court.

As such, their real estate transfer case will not be taken to a higher court after the first trial.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]