SEOUL: South Korea’s top court granted billionaire Chey Tae-won (pic) some relief, deciding to review his divorce case after he appealed a lower court ruling that required him to pay a settlement of 1.38 trillion won (US$987 million) to his estranged wife.
The Supreme Court had until Friday (Nov 8) midnight to reject the case and its inaction means the judges have chosen to examine it, said Kim Sung Woo, a partner attorney at Yulchon LLC who represents Chey.
The court confirmed Saturday (Nov 9) the case will be reviewed and added that it doesn’t mean judges favour any side.
Chey, the chairman of the country’s second-biggest conglomerate SK Group, is worth an estimated $1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The Seoul High Court order included a one-time 2 billion won alimony, which had already been paid to Roh Soh-yeong, the daughter of former President Roh Tae-woo.
Chey owns about 18% of SK Inc., the holding company of SK Group.
The conglomerate’s businesses include one of the world’s biggest memory-chip firms, SK Hynix Inc., battery maker SK On Co. and South Korea’s largest mobile carrier, SK Telecom Co.
After the court ruling in May, SK embarked on the biggest shakeup since Chey took over more than two decades ago, saying its key agenda is "quality growth.”
The market had broadly expected Chey to restructure SK Inc., in the hope it would boost the stock price and help him pay for the cash settlement.
In his appeal, Chey argued that errors in asset calculations overstated his role in SK’s growth, saying much of the company’s value was inherited.
Inherited assets in South Korea are not subject to divorce settlement claims.
Despite his plea, the appeals court upheld the high court decision in June, acknowledging Roh’s role in growing the group’s value, thereby backing her claim that SK shares be included as part of the settlement.
In 2015, Chey said he had a child with another woman, and two years later, he sought a court-mediated divorce settlement.
As Chey failed to reach an agreement with Roh, the case went back to court.
Roh filed a lawsuit in 2019 demanding 42.3% of Chey’s stake in SK Inc., worth about 1 trillion won at that time, and 300 million won in alimony.
She later modified her claim to about 2 trillion won in cash and 3 billion won in alimony, the local media reported. - Bloomberg
[--With assistance from Shinhye Kang]
