Will He Surpass Chey Tae-won and Roh So-young? First-Instance Ruling Due Today in Kwon Hyuk-bin’s Divorce Case Involving Assets Worth 8 Trillion Won

[Financial News] The first-instance ruling in the divorce case involving Kwon Hyuk-bin, Smilegate’s founder and chief vision officer, who is reportedly worth up to 8 trillion won, is due on the 9th.
According to legal sources on the 9th, the Seoul Family Court’s Family Affairs Division 3, headed by Presiding Judge Jeong Dong-hyeok, will hold a sentencing hearing at 2 p.m. that day in the divorce case filed by Kwon’s spouse, identified by her surname Lee, against Kwon. The suit was filed four years ago.
Lee filed for divorce against Kwon in November 2022. At the time, she was reportedly seeking half of Kwon’s stake in Smilegate Holdings, now known as Smilegate.
The court conducted an appraisal of the assets to determine the value of Smilegate, in which Kwon owns a 100% stake. The appraisal reportedly valued Kwon’s assets at up to approximately 8.016 trillion won.
Lee applied for an injunction preventing Kwon from disposing of his Smilegate Holdings shares and other assets until the case was concluded, and the court granted the application. Kwon is seeking dismissal of the divorce suit.
For Lee’s property-division claim to be accepted, the divorce must first be established by proving grounds attributable to the spouse at fault. Only after recognizing the divorce will the court determine Lee’s status as a co-founder and her contribution to the formation of the assets.
The specific grounds for fault have not been disclosed. Lee reportedly claims that Kwon is responsible, while Kwon is said to reject that assertion.
At the first hearing held last November, the two sides reportedly disputed whether Lee had been involved in the company’s early founding and management and had contributed to the formation of the assets.

Kwon’s side argued, "There are no grounds attributable to him. Lee was not a co-founder and did not participate meaningfully in management." Lee’s side countered, "She held the position of representative director at the time and was involved in the investment."
Kwon married Lee in 2001. He founded Smilegate in June of the following year. After serving as CEO and chairman of Smilegate Holdings, he became chairman of the public-interest foundation Hope Studio in 2017 and took office as Smilegate’s chief vision officer in 2020.
At the time of the company’s founding, Kwon reportedly held a 70% stake and Lee held 30%. Lee’s entire stake was sold to Tencent in 2010.
Attention is focused on whether this ruling will set a new record for the largest property-division award in a South Korean divorce case. Among publicly known divorce cases involving chaebol families, the largest amount to date is the 944 billion won awarded in the remanded appeal involving Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Roh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, last July.

[email protected] Minseo Seong Reporter