The property division suit between Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi, is headed back to the Supreme Court. After Chey's side filed a second appeal on the 14th, challenging the remand court's ruling, the legal battle that began in 2017 has entered a second round at the top court. The property division amount had jumped from 66.5 billion won at first instance to 1.3808 trillion won on appeal, then was cut to 944 billion won after the Supreme Court's remand.
◇ In 2017, Chey Tae-won filed for divorce mediation… first instance excluded SK Corp. shares from partitioning
The conflict between the two became public in 2015 when Chey revealed the existence of a child born out of wedlock and said he intended to divorce Roh. In July 2017, Chey applied to the court for divorce mediation, and when mediation failed, the case proceeded to litigation. In 2019, Roh filed a countersuit seeking divorce and property division.
The Family Division 2 of the Seoul Family Court ruled in Dec. 2022 that Chey must pay Roh 100 million won in consolation money and 6.65 billion won in property division. The first-instance court excluded Chey's SK Corp. shares from the property division.
The judgment was largely overturned on appeal. The Domestic Relations Division 2 of the Seoul High Court ruled in May 2024 that SK Corp. shares are part of the divisible estate and ordered Chey to pay Roh 1.3808 trillion won in property division and 2 billion won in consolation money. It set the division ratio at 65% for Chey and 35% for Roh.
◇ Supreme Court reins in recognition of "Roh Tae-woo's 30 billion" contribution… overturns only the property division
The Supreme Court's First Division in Oct. last year set aside the appellate court's property division ruling and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court. It found it wrong for the appellate court to view 30 billion won as having been provided from former President Roh Tae-woo's side to Chey's side and to treat that as Roh's contribution to the accumulation of assets.
The Supreme Court held that even if there had been support, because the funds appear to have originated from bribes received during the former president's term, they cannot be evaluated as a legally protectable contribution in the property division. It also took issue with including in the divisible estate some assets that Chey had already donated or disposed of in the course of business activities before the marital breakdown. The 2 billion won in consolation money, however, was affirmed as is.
◇ 944 billion won on remand… even without the 30 billion, one-third goes to Roh Soh-yeong
The Domestic Relations Division 1 of the Seoul High Court on the 24th of last month ordered Chey to pay 944 billion won in cash to Roh as property division. In line with the Supreme Court's view, 30 billion won was excluded from Roh's contribution factors, and some assets already disposed of were also removed from the divisible estate.
However, SK Corp. shares themselves were again recognized as divisible. The court found they were acquired during the marriage, and that Roh's housework, child-rearing, and external activities related to SK Group contributed to the formation, maintenance, and increase in value of the shares. It set the property division ratio at two-thirds for Chey and one-third for Roh. Compared to the 35% on appeal, Roh's share fell by about 1.7 percentage points.
The share value was assessed based on the closing of fact-finding pleadings for the divorce claim in Apr. 2024, not the close of arguments in the remand trial. The subsequent rise in SK Corp.'s share price was not directly reflected in the asset value but was considered when setting the division ratio.
With Chey's side filing a second appeal, the 944 billion won property division is not yet final. Once the case record returns to the Supreme Court, the division ratio and whether SK Corp. shares and other assets are subject to division, as well as the valuation method, are expected to be key issues.