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Seoul appeals court to reopen SK Group chief Chey Tae-won's mega divorce case on Jan. 9

Published: 23 Dec. 2025, 15:11

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, left, and Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong attend a hearing held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho District, southern Seoul, on April 16, 2024. [NEWS1]

An appeals court will reopen the divorce case between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong on Jan. 9 next year, after the Supreme Court overturned a ruling that had sharply increased the division of marital property.

According to legal insiders, the Seoul High Court’s Family Division scheduled the first hearing of the remanded case for 5:20 p.m. in a case that has become Korea’s most expensive divorce settlement battle.

The Supreme Court in October accepted Chey’s appeal and overturned the appellate court’s ruling that had relied on the assumption that 30 billion won ($20.3 million) in illicit funds belonging to former President Roh Tae-woo, the late father of Roh Soh-yeong, had flowed into SK-related entities.

In its decision, the Supreme Court said it did not rule on whether the slush funds existed. It ruled that even if such funds had existed and been transferred to SK, they could not be counted as Roh Soh-yeong’s contribution in dividing marital assets because the money would have been illegal.

The top court upheld, however, a 2 billion won damages award to Roh, rejecting Chey’s appeal on that issue and finalizing that portion of the ruling.

The decision leaves the amount of marital property Chey must transfer to Roh to be recalculated by the Seoul High Court.

Chey and Roh married in September 1988 and have three children. Chey disclosed to the media in 2015 that the couple had effectively lived apart for more than a decade and that he had a child outside the marriage with his current partner.

Chey sought a divorce through mediation in July 2017, but the effort failed. The case moved to a formal lawsuit in February 2018. Roh filed a countersuit in December 2019, saying she would agree to a divorce.

In December 2022, a lower court ordered Chey to pay Roh 100 million won in damages and 66.5 billion won in property division.

An appellate court later sharply increased the property settlement, ruling that slush funds from former President Roh were delivered to the family of the late Chey Jong-hyun, the former SK Group chairman, and had served as seed capital for what was then known as the Sunkyong Group.

The Supreme Court said that the finding reflected a misinterpretation of the law and sent the case back to the Seoul High Court for further proceedings.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]