KB News Desk
A Seoul appellate court on Friday ordered SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay 944 billion won ($644 million) to his former wife, Roh Soh-yeong, cutting the earlier award by nearly a third while again ruling that his shares in the group’s holding company belonged in the marital estate.
The Seoul High Court’s family division, presided over by Judge Lee Sang-joo, set Roh’s recognized contribution at one-third and Chey’s at two-thirds. That ratio applies to the pool of divisible assets. It does not give her ownership of any part of SK Group.
Chey keeps every share he holds. The court ordered him to cover Roh’s portion in cash instead, noting that his stake underpins his control of the companies he runs, and set interest to run from the day after the judgment becomes final.
In explaining why the shares belonged in the marital estate at all, the court credited Roh’s housework, child-rearing and public activity on SK Group’s behalf as having helped build the value of holdings registered in Chey’s name during the marriage.
The sum sits between the two earlier judgments. A district court in 2022 awarded Roh 66.5 billion won, treating Chey’s SK shares as separate property outside the marriage. An appeals court in 2024 raised that to 1.38 trillion won, valuing her contribution at 35 percent and citing 30 billion won that her father, former President Roh Tae-woo, allegedly channeled to SK.
The Supreme Court struck down that reasoning last October, holding that money originating in an illicit presidential fund could not count as a protected contribution even if it did reach the company. Friday’s ruling kept the shares divisible without it.
Valuation timing was the day’s most closely watched question. The court fixed April 16, 2024, the close of arguments in the original appeal, as the reference date, then weighed the subsequent run-up in SK shares in setting the division ratio rather than in the asset total. Chey’s management could not be ruled out as a factor in that increase, it said.
Shares tied to the group have climbed as chip affiliate SK hynix became a leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory for Nvidia’s AI processors, and SK hynix listed American depositary receipts on the Nasdaq on July 10. Chey holds about 17.9 percent of SK Inc., the holding company at the top of the group.
The court also excluded shares Chey gifted to relatives before the marriage broke down, finding they were transferred in the course of maintaining control and running the business.
“Chey Tae-won feels apologetic for having caused concern to many people throughout the process,” his legal representatives said in a statement circulated by SK’s SUPEX Council. “We will provide our detailed position after closely reviewing the written ruling.”
Roh’s side did not immediately comment.
The divorce itself and 2 billion won in damages for emotional harm were finalized by the Supreme Court last year. Friday’s judgment comes nine years after Chey filed for mediation in July 2017 and follows two failed court-led settlement attempts this year. Either party can still appeal.
