Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi, who are in a property division lawsuit, recently finished conveying their respective positions to the appellate court on the issues surrounding what assets are subject to partitioning and the split ratio.
According to legal sources on the 2nd, attorneys for both sides filed briefs in succession with the Seoul High Court's Family Division 1 (Presiding Judge Lee Sang-ju) on the 30th of last month. The filing followed a request from the court. At the first hearing on the 19th of last month, the court asked both sides to submit their views on the issues in this case by the end of January.
The contents of the briefs submitted by Chey and Roh's sides are not public. However, Chey's side is said to have emphasized that, in line with the purpose of the Supreme Court's remand ruling, SK Co. shares should be excluded from the assets subject to partitioning. It is also said to have included the position that the division ratio for the property (Chey 65%, Roh 35%) should be set again.
At the first instance, the court also viewed the SK Co. shares held by Chey as "special property" and not subject to partitioning. Special property refers to property that one spouse owned before marriage or acquired in their own name during marriage. As a rule, special property is not subject to property division in a divorce case.
However, at the appellate stage, considering that SK Group grew by receiving slush funds from former President Roh, the shares were recognized as subject to partitioning, only to be overturned again by the Supreme Court in Oct. last year. The Supreme Court held that criminal revenue cannot be legally protected and that the slush funds in question must not be recognized as Roh's contribution in the property division process. Accordingly, it found that SK shares could not be recognized as marital property and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court.
Roh's side is believed to have emphasized that her contributions during the marriage—household work, childrearing, and supporting the spouse—affected the formation of SK Group's value. In fact, for this remand trial, Roh appointed attorney Kim Jae-ryeon of law firm Onsesang, known as a women's rights lawyer.
On Oct. 16 of last year, when the Supreme Court's remand decision was handed down, attorney Kim told Women's News, "In ordinary divorce property divisions, there are many cases where the husband's shares are split in half. Regardless of whether there were slush funds, given that Chey and Roh were married for more than 30 years and that the family broke down due to Chey's misconduct, I believe the property should be divided in half."
What remains now is up to the court. After reviewing the briefs submitted by Chey and Roh, if the court deems that no special hearing is necessary, it plans to set a hearing date and conclude arguments on that date. The court also said it could set a ruling date immediately afterward and deliver a decision. At the hearing on the 19th of last month, the court is said to have conveyed the view that "this case is too old, and we are trying to reach a conclusion as soon as possible."
However, if the court finds during the brief review that additional proceedings are necessary, it may request supplementation through an order to clarify issues or set a separate preparatory date.