In South Korea's most expensive divorce case, the chairman of SK Group had to pay over $1 billion.

Mr. Chey, Chairman of SK Group, and Ms. Roh, daughter of the late President Roh Tae-woo.

According to Korea JoongAng Daily, a court in Seoul, South Korea, ruled on May 30 that Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, must pay 1.38 trillion won (US$1 billion) in asset division and 2 billion won in alimony to his wife in their divorce case.

The ruling makes the case between Mr. Chey (64) and Ms. Roh Soh-yeong (63) the most expensive divorce case in South Korea to date. SK's stock surged 9.26% to nearly 158,100 won after the ruling.

The appeals court ruled in favor of Ms. Roh, stating that her late father, former President Roh Tae-woo, contributed to the growth of SK Group by providing 34.3 billion won in slush funds to former and current SK chairmen in the 1990s to purchase a securities company and SK shares.

The court also determined that the late president used her position to "protect" the management activities of her husband's late father, former SK Group Chairman Chey Jong-hyun.

Thus, the ruling overturns the court's previous decision that Mr. Chey did not need to share his SK shares because they were inherited assets. Mr. Chey's lawyers said he would appeal the latest ruling.

In September 1988, Mr. Chey married Ms. Roh at the Blue House, about seven months after her father became president. They have two daughters and one son. The couple separated in September 2011, and in 2015, Mr. Chey filed for divorce. In December 2022, the Seoul Family Court granted the divorce and allowed Mr. Chey to retain the majority of the company's shares.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/vu-ly-hon-dat-nhat-han-quoc-chu-tich-sk-group-phai-dua-hon-1-ti-usd-185240530192942644.htm