In what is the country’s largest ever divorce settlement, South Korean billionaire and Chairman of SK Group conglomerate, Chey Tae-won, has been ordered to pay his ex-wife 1.38 trillion won ($1bn) in cash after almost a decade their marriage ended.
On Thursday, the Seoul High Court ruled in favour of Roh So-young, awarding her a share of Chey Tae-won’s company assets after their 35-year marriage ended when Chey’s extramarital affair and birth of a child with a mistress was revealed.
Roh So-young is the daughter of former South Korean President Roh Tae-woo. Chey’s lawyers have said they will appeal the court’s decision, arguing that the ruling was based solely on his ex-wife’s version of events.
The Seoul High Court’s award of 1.38 trillion won to Roh So-young marks a significant jump from the 66.5 billion won settlement initially ruled by a lower court in 2022 which had also denied Roh So-young’s request to receive a portion of Chey Tae-won’s SK shares. A decision the Seoul High Court overturned on Thursday, ruling that the shares should be considered joint assets and awarding her a portion of them.
The ruling said, “It was reasonable to rule that, as his wife, Roh played a role in increasing the value of SK Group and Chey’s business activity.”
The court put Chey Tae-won’s wealth at approximately 4 trillion won, and accordingly, Roh So-young, with whom he has three children, is entitled to around 35% of that amount.
The court acknowledged Roh So-young’s contributions, to the growth of her ex-husband’s businesses saying she had helped him around regulatory issues, using her father’s influence as a “protective shield” for Chey Jong-hyon, the former chairman of SK Group, thereby contributing to the company’s success.
The judgment highlighted that the businessman had not shown any remorse “for his foul behaviour in the course of the trial… nor respect for monogamy.”
The court added that it also considered Roh So-young’s emotional pain and distress resulting from Chey Tae-won’s infidelity and his lack of remorse for his “foul play” in arriving at its decision to increase the settlement amount.
Shares of SK Inc., a global semiconductor giant with diverse interests in telecoms, chemicals, and energy, surged 9% following the court’s ruling.