The divorce lawsuit between Chey Tae-won, chair of SK Group, and Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi, will enter mediation in the remand trial on the 13th.
The divorce and damages have already been finalized, and the remaining issues are the amount of the property division and the payment method. The court set a mediation date instead of proceeding straight to a ruling because it saw room for the two sides to negotiate the amount and conditions.
The Family Division 1 of the Seoul High Court (presiding judge Lee Sang-joo, senior judge) will hold a mediation session at 10 a.m. on this day in the remand trial over divorce, damages, and property division between Chey and Roh. Mediation is a process in which the court seeks an agreement between the parties before concluding with a judgment. If mediation is reached, it can reduce the burden of additional appeals and prolonged disputes and also set detailed conditions that are hard to include in a judgment, such as the timing and method of payment and confidentiality terms. If mediation fails, the court will recalculate the property division amount in line with the Supreme Court's guidance and issue a ruling.
In Oct. last year, the Supreme Court finalized the couple's divorce and 2 billion won in damages and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court only to reexamine the appellate ruling that ordered Chey to pay Roh about 1.3808 trillion won in property division. Accordingly, the focus of the remand trial narrowed to the size of the assets Chey must share with Roh.
The case began when Chey filed for divorce mediation in July 2017. After mediation fell through, the case moved to a formal lawsuit in 2018. Opposing the divorce, Roh filed a counterclaim in Dec. 2019 seeking 300 million won in damages and roughly half of Chey's SK shares as property division.
In the first trial, the court ordered Chey to pay Roh 100 million won in damages and 66.5 billion won in property division. At the time, the court did not broadly recognize Chey's SK shares as property formed jointly by the couple during the marriage. Because it viewed Roh's contribution as limited, the property division amount remained in the 60 billion won range.
The appellate court significantly changed the conclusion. The Seoul High Court found that Roh's side contributed to SK Group's growth and the increase in the value of SK shares, and recognized 2 billion won in damages and about 1.3808 trillion won in property division. What drew the appellate court's attention was 30 billion won from former President Roh Tae-woo's side. It judged that the funds influenced SK Group's growth and, as a result, connected to Chey's asset formation and the rise in share value. It also evaluated as contributions Roh's household, childcare, and external roles during the marriage.
The Supreme Court found problems with the appellate court's method of calculating the property division. Even if funds from the former president's side were actually delivered, if they were illegal funds raised during his term, they cannot be protected by law and cannot be regarded as Roh's contribution. It ruled that money with significant illegality cannot serve as a basis for calculating property division.
The Supreme Court also said the scope of assets subject to division must be reconsidered. It found fault with the appellate court's inclusion of some assets that Chey had already gifted or disposed of to third parties. If assets were not moved to hide them but had already been transferred due to business needs or prior dispositions, it is difficult to regard them as assets that can currently be divided.
Ultimately, the core of mediation in the remand trial is whether SK shares can be included as assets subject to division and to what extent Roh's contribution can be recognized. Because the division ratio must be reset after excluding funds from the former president's side, the 65% for Chey and 35% for Roh recognized by the appellate court is highly likely to be revisited at the mediation table.
The key in this mediation is how much of the roughly 1.3808 trillion won recognized in the appellate court Roh can retain. Chey's side is likely to argue for a reduction in the property division amount based on the Supreme Court's decision. Observers say Roh's side will demand a division above a certain level, citing the long marriage and contributions during the marriage to the increase in the value of SK shares.