Court orders SK Group Chairman and his cohabitant to jointly pay 2 billion won in alimony to his wife

Kim Hee-young, T&C Foundation President and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won’s cohabitant, and Roh Soh-yeong, Choi\'s wife and director of Art Center Nabi.

A court ruled that Kim Hee-young, T&C Foundation President and SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won’s cohabitant, must pay 2 billion won in alimony to Roh Soh-yeong, Choi's wife and director of Art Center Nabi. On August 22, the Seoul Family Court sentenced Kim to "pay 2 billion won to Roh jointly with Chey" in a lawsuit filed by Roh against Kim for damages worth 3 billion won.

The court viewed Chey and Kim as “joint tort-feasors” who were responsible for the breakdown of the marriage, and therefore ruled that they should jointly pay Roh 2 billion won in alimony, which is the same amount recognized in the appeal of Chey and Roh's divorce case.

“It is recognized that Kim and Chey's infidelity and childbirth out of wedlock, and Chey's unilateral desertion and continued separation fundamentally undermined the trust between Roh and Chey and led to the breakdown of their marriage,” the court said, adding, ”It is clear that Roh suffered mental pain as a result, and Kim is obligated to pay alimony to Roh.”

Earlier, the appeals court for the divorce case between Chey and Roh set the amount of alimony to be paid by Chey to Roh at 2 billion won, 20 times the 100 million won sentenced in the first trial.

The court acknowledged the emotional trauma Roh must have suffered, citing that Chey had been having an affair since at least 2009 and had spent at least 21.9 billion won on his domestic partner, Kim.

Roh filed a lawsuit against Kim for compensation of 3 billion won in March last year, saying she "suffered extreme mental damage," while holding an appeals trial for divorce from Chey. Kim's defense argued that the three-year statute of limitations for damages under the Civil Code had passed, saying she had known about their relationship as early as April 2019, when Roh filed a divorce counterclaim against Chey.

The court ruled in Roh's favor, stating that “Articles 750 and 751 of the Civil Code allow a claim for damages for divorce based on fraud, and the Family Procedure Act explicitly stipulates claims for damages, including claims from third parties."

Kim said she would not appeal.

“I would like to apologize to Roh once again,” she said in a statement. ”In particular, I sincerely apologize to the children who must have been heartbroken while watching their parents having a difficult time for so many years.”

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.