Chey Tae-won and Noh So-young retrial ruling sets property division at 944 billion won... Noh's share cut to 33.3% [Full]

[Financial News] The amount Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, must pay Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, as part of their divorce property division has been set at 944 billion won in the retrial. As a result, Noh's share of the couple's jointly held assets was reduced from 35% to 33.3%. It comes nine years after Chey filed for divorce mediation.
At 2 p.m. on the 24th, Civil Division 1 (Family Affairs) of the Seoul High Court, presided over by Judge Lee Sang-joo, ordered Chey to pay Noh 944 billion won in the retrial over the property division in their divorce case. The court also ordered him to pay 5% annual late-payment interest from the day after the ruling becomes final until the full amount is paid.
The court set the property division ratio at one-third for Noh So-young, or 33.3%, and two-thirds for Chey Tae-won, or 66.6%. In the process, SK shares held by Chey were included in the assets subject to division. However, the valuation date for those shares was fixed at April 16, 2024, the date the previous appellate hearing closed.
The court explained, "Although SK's stock price rose sharply between the close of the appellate hearing and the close of the retrial hearing, it cannot be said that Chey Tae-won's managerial contribution had no effect on that rise." It added, "For the fair division of the couple's jointly held assets, the sharp increase in the stock price was taken into account when determining the property division ratio."
The court also did not recognize the 30 billion won slush fund left by the late former President Roh Tae-woo as a contribution by Noh. This followed the Supreme Court of Korea's remand ruling last October. Shares Chey had gifted to relatives as part of maintaining management control and carrying out business activities before the breakdown of the marriage were also excluded from the assets subject to division.
In the first trial of the divorce case in December 2022, the court ruled that SK shares held by Chey were his separate property and excluded them from the division. It set the property division amount at 66.5 billion won and alimony at 100 million won. On appeal, however, the court in May 2024 found that Noh's contribution was 35% and sharply increased the property division amount to 1.3808 trillion won. The court said Noh's side had contributed to SK Group growth, including the 30 billion won slush fund linked to Roh, and therefore SK shares should be included in the division. Alimony was also raised to 2 billion won.
But in October last year, the Supreme Court of Korea found that the appellate court had made a legal error in recognizing the contribution of Roh's slush fund, which was illicit money, and sent back the property division portion for retrial. The ruling on the divorce itself and the order to pay 2 billion won in alimony remained in force.
Chey and Noh married in September 1988 and had three children, but their marriage broke down after Chey revealed in 2015 through the media that he had a child born out of wedlock. The legal battle began when Chey filed for divorce mediation in July 2017, became a formal lawsuit in February 2018, and continued into a countersuit filed by Noh in December 2019. The dispute has now dragged on for nine years.
[email protected] Kim Dong-gyu, Jung Kyung-sook, Choi Eun-sol Reporter