Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Top court dismisses $970 mil. settlement in SK chief’s divorce case
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, left, and his estranged wife Roh Soh-yeong appear for a hearing at the Seoul High Court in Seoul, April 16, 2024. Yonhap
By Nam Hyun-woo
High court set to review property settlement again
The Supreme Court on Thursday remanded a high court ruling in the divorce case of SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and his estranged wife, Roh Soh-yeong, overturning a May 2024 decision that ordered Chey to pay 1.38 trillion won ($970 million) to Roh as a settlement.
Viewed as one of the highest-profile divorce cases in Korean history, the trial drew intense scrutiny as its outcome could have compelled Chey to sell a large portion of his holdings in Korea’s second-largest conglomerate, potentially altering his control over SK Group and fundamentally changing its ownership structure.
With the top court’s reversal, the case will be reviewed again in the high court to recalculate the settlement amount. The schedule has yet to be determined, but the amount is expected to be lower than 1.38 trillion won as the Supreme Court dismissed most of the grounds behind the high court’s favorable ruling for Roh.
In their decision, the justices said the court was overturning the high court’s ruling on property division, which ordered Chey to pay Roh 1.38 trillion won, while upholding an alimony payment of 2 billion won ordered by the same court.
In May 2024, the Seoul High Court made the decision after estimating the couple’s marital assets at 4 trillion won. The amount was around 20 times higher than the 66.5 billion won previously ordered by a lower court, which had ruled that Chey’s SK shares were special property that was not subject to division.
The high court ruling reflected Roh’s argument that Chey’s SK Group shares should be regarded as joint marital assets because her father had contributed to her husband’s asset accumulation with a slush fund worth 30 billion won. Roh is the daughter of former President Roh Tae-woo.
The Supreme Court said in the ruling that “even if the financial support had been provided by Roh's family, the funds appear to have originated from bribes which the former president received illegally,” and “as the former president’s actions are not legally protected, the money cannot be included in the division of assets.”
Citing Article 746 of the Civil Act, which stipulates that benefits obtained from an illegal cause cannot be reclaimed, the Supreme Court said the same principle should be taken into account when determining property division in divorce cases.
Roh argued that she is not seeking to reclaim the funds, but rather to have her contribution recognized in the division of property. However, the top court said the illegality “cannot be separated from the case,” saying that the high court ruling ㄴmisinterpreted this legal principle.
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won arrives at Seoul Gimpo Business Aviation Center in Gangseo District, Seoul, Thursday, for his visit to the United States. Chey is set to attend a global business leaders' meeting at Mar-a-Lago, Fla., the private resort of U.S. President Donald Trump. Yonhap
Chey jetted off to the United States just hours after the ruling to attend a high-profile meeting with global business leaders at Mar-a-Lago, the private resort of U.S. President Donald Trump. He told reporters he would continue his efforts for the Korean economy but said, “I have no comment on the court’s decision.”
After the ruling, Chey’s legal representative, lawyer Lee Jae-keun, told reporters, “We believe it is fortunate that the Supreme Court ruling has corrected the misinterpretations of law and factual errors made in the appeals court’s decision.
“It is especially meaningful that the top court made clear it was wrong to view that SK Group has grown through illegal funds from the Roh administration and to recognize that as a contribution to the formation of marital assets.”
Lee Jae-keun, right, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won's legal representative in the chairman's divorce case, speaks at the Supreme Court in Seocho District, Seoul, Thursday, after the top court overturned a high court ruling that ordered Chey to pay his estranged wife a 1.38 trillion won settlement. Yonhap
The top court's decision partially eased uncertainties over SK Group’s shareholding structure. If the 1.38 trillion won settlement had been upheld, Chey would have needed to liquidate part of his stakes in key SK units, including holding company SK Inc. and unlisted materials maker SK Siltron, to secure the funds. The move would have imposed heavy financial pressure on Chey and exposed the group’s ownership to possible hostile takeovers by lowering his 17.9 percent stake in SK Inc.
Chey and Roh married in September 1988 and have three children together. In 2015, Chey disclosed in a letter to a local newspaper that he was having an affair.
He filed a divorce suit in February 2018 after failing to divorce by consent. Roh initially resisted the divorce, but lodged a counterclaim in December 2019.
The top court's ruling came 15 months after it began reviewing the case.