The 1.3808 Trillion Won Property Division Case Returns to Court as Chey Tae-won and Noh So-young Clash After Mediation Fails

[Financial News] Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, appeared together at a hearing in the property division case on remand after mediation collapsed. The two sides are expected to resume a fierce legal battle over whether Chey’s SK shares should be included in the marital property and what date should be used to value the assets.
On the 26th, Seoul High Court Family Division 1, presided over by Judge Lee Sang-joo, held the second hearing in the remanded divorce and property division case involving Chey and Noh.
Noh arrived at the court at around 9:44 a.m. for the second hearing and headed into the courtroom without answering reporters’ questions about whether settlement talks had made progress or whether the valuation date for SK shares had been set.
Chey, who appeared at around 9:51 a.m., gave only a brief reply when asked whether he was disputing the case on the premise that SK shares had already been recognized as divisible joint property. He said, "I will wrap things up well and come back."
This was the first formal hearing after the court’s mediation process ended in failure. The two sides are expected to continue their main legal dispute over the nature of SK shares and the reference date for valuing the assets, both of which are key to determining the size of the property division.
The biggest issue is whether the SK shares held by Chey are marital property subject to division.
Chey’s side argues that the shares are his separate property, formed through inheritance and gifts, and therefore should not be divided. Noh’s side, however, says the shares should be treated as jointly accumulated assets because she supported Chey’s business activities while taking care of the household and raising their children throughout the marriage.
The valuation date for the property division is also expected to be a major variable.
The size of the divisible assets could change significantly depending on whether the reference date is set as April 16, 2024, when arguments in the appeal trial ended, or the date when the current remanded proceedings conclude.
At the time the appeal hearing ended, SK shares were trading at around 160,000 won, and the value of Chey’s holdings was estimated at about 2.07 trillion won. However, with SK’s stock price recently rising sharply above 800,000 won, the asset value could be more than five times higher if assessed at current levels.
The divorce case between the two, who married in 1988 and have three children, began in 2017 when Chey filed for divorce mediation.
They have been locked in a legal battle for nearly eight years. In December 2022, the trial court ordered Chey to pay Noh 100 million won in alimony and 66.5 billion won in property division.
But in May 2024, the appeals court sharply increased the alimony to 2 billion won and the property division to 1.3808 trillion won. At the time, the court found that 30 billion won in slush funds from former President Roh Tae-woo had served as seed money for the growth of SK Group, recognized Noh’s contribution, and ruled that SK shares were also subject to division.
However, in October last year, the Supreme Court of Korea ruled that the funds from former President Roh were illegal money and could not be recognized as Noh’s contribution to the formation of the assets. The case was then sent back to the Seoul High Court.
After holding its first hearing in January this year, the remanded panel attempted mediation. But the effort failed after the two sides were unable to narrow their differences on key issues, including whether SK shares should be included in the property division.
As a result, the case has now returned to formal trial proceedings.
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter