Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, will no longer contest 700 billion won out of the 944 billion won in marital property division he was ordered to pay to Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong. Only the remaining 244 billion won will be reviewed by the Supreme Court in the renewed appeal.
Chey's side said the move is intended to narrow the scope of the long-running dispute and wrap it up quickly.
According to legal sources on the 9th, Chey's side filed a petition on the 31st to amend (reduce) the grounds of appeal with the Seoul High Court's Family Division 1 (Presiding Judge Lee Sang-ju), which handled the remand trial. Reducing the grounds of appeal is a procedure that narrows the scope of issues on which the appellate court is asked to rule.
Accordingly, Chey's side will seek the Supreme Court's ruling only on 244 billion won, excluding 700 billion won from the 944 billion won in property division recognized by the remand court.
By narrowing the scope of the appeal, the 700 billion won portion is removed from the renewed appeal review. However, Chey's side maintains this cannot be seen as actively acknowledging the obligation of property division itself or accepting the remand court's judgment. They said the legal questions to be reviewed have been limited to 244 billion won to reduce the dispute that has dragged on for years.
In the renewed appeal, key issues within the 244 billion won scope are expected to include whether it was proper to include Chey's SK shares in the property division, and whether there were legal errors in calculating the division ratio and amount.
Earlier, on July 24, the Seoul High Court's Family Division 1 ruled in the remand trial that Chey must pay 944 billion won in property division to Director Roh.
In line with the Supreme Court's remand instructions, the panel did not accept that 30 billion won in slush funds that the late former President Roh Tae-woo, Roh's father, delivered to SK contributed to the creation of the assets. However, it included Chey's SK shares and other assets in the division, finding they were acquired during the marriage and that Director Roh contributed to the formation, maintenance, and increase in value of the assets.
The valuation date for the shares was set as Apr. 16, 2024, the closing date of arguments in the appellate trial before remand. The division ratio was set at two-thirds for Chey and one-third for Director Roh. Chey was ordered to continue holding the shares and pay Director Roh's portion in cash.
Chey's side filed a renewed appeal on the 14th of last month. After then narrowing the scope of appeal, the property division dispute between the two, which began with a divorce mediation filing in 2017, will be reviewed again by the Supreme Court focusing on the 244 billion won portion.
In the first instance, the court excluded Chey's SK shares from the division and ordered payment of 100 million won in consolation money and 66.5 billion won in property division. In the second instance, the court included the SK shares in the division, raising the consolation money to 2 billion won and the property division to 1.3808 trillion won. The Supreme Court in Oct. last year vacated and remanded the property division portion, leaving the 2 billion won in consolation money intact. On remand, the property division was recalculated at 944 billion won.