Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and his ex-wife Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi, are expected to attend the second mediation date in the retrial after remand on the partitioning of assets. It will be about 2 years and 2 months since Chey and Roh last faced each other in court.
According to legal sources on the 14th, the family division 1 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Lee Sang-ju, senior judge) will hold the second mediation date in the retrial after remand on the partitioning of the two people's assets at 2 p.m. on the 15th. Mediation is a procedure in which the court seeks a settlement between the parties before reaching a conclusion by judgment. At the first mediation date held on the 13th, only Roh attended.
Talks between the two sides are expected to continue over the size of the assets subject to partitioning. Chey's side argues that SK shares are unique property received by gift or inheritance and therefore are not subject to partitioning. Roh's side, by contrast, maintains that the shares should be viewed as marital community property. If Roh can receive a portion of SK shares, a key question is whether the sharp rise in the stock price will be reflected in the asset partitioning.
The couple's divorce began in 2017, nine years ago. In July 2017, Chey applied for divorce mediation against Roh, but the talks broke down, and in Feb. 2018 he filed a formal lawsuit. In Dec. 2019, Roh filed a countersuit, saying she would accept the divorce.
In Oct. last year, the Supreme Court finalized the couple's divorce and 2 billion won in damages, but sent the case back to the Seoul High Court, ordering it to review only the appellate ruling that Chey pay 1.3808 trillion won to Roh as asset partitioning.