Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK, Files Further Appeal Against Noh So-young... Property Division Lawsuit Returns to Supreme Court

Notice of Appeal Filed Against Remand Ruling

Chey Tae-won’s Side: "Carefully Considering How to Minimize Impact on Management"

Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, has decided to file a further appeal after a long period of consideration, meaning that the property division lawsuit filed by Noh So-young, Director of Art Center Nabi, will return to the Supreme Court for another judgment.

(From left) Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, Noh So-young, Director of Art Center Nabi. Yonhap News Agency

On August 14, Chairman Chey's legal team submitted a petition for a further appeal to the Civil Affairs Division 1 of the Seoul High Court (Chief Judge Lee Sang-joo), which handled the remanded property division case. In a statement, Chey's representatives said, "Chairman Chey submitted the petition after serious deliberation, taking into account various circumstances," adding, "He will approach the upcoming procedures with the aim of minimizing any negative impact on shareholders and group management."

The legal community generally predicts that it is unlikely the outcome will be reversed in this additional review by the Supreme Court. This is because the Supreme Court already issued a ruling in October last year when it overturned the earlier decision on appeal and sent the case back to the High Court, and the retrial panel has already followed the Supreme Court's reasoning in their judgment.

Some observers analyze that Chairman Chey's further appeal was intended to buy time to raise the 944 billion won that must be paid to Noh, as well as to avoid accruing delay interest. If the remanded verdict had been finalized, Chey would have been liable for an annual 5% delay interest from the day after the judgment became final until payment was made in full. This amounts to 47.2 billion won per year, or about 130 million won per day.

Chey, the eldest son of the late SK Group founder Chey Jong-hyun, and Noh, the daughter of former President Roh Tae-woo, first met while studying abroad at the University of Chicago in the United States. They married in 1988 and have three children.

However, in 2015, Chey revealed the existence of an out-of-wedlock child in a letter sent to a media outlet, making their separation public.

Subsequently, in 2017, Chey applied for divorce mediation, but it failed, so the case proceeded to a formal lawsuit in February of the following year. In December 2019, Noh filed a counterclaim, stating her willingness to agree to the divorce.

The first trial, in December 2022, ordered Chey to pay Noh 100 million won in alimony and 66.5 billion won in cash as part of the property division.

The appellate court in May 2024 raised the alimony to 2 billion won and the property division amount to 1.3808 trillion won, judging that the shares of SK Group were also subject to division because the group’s growth was supported by the "slush fund" of 30 billion won from former President Roh and by Noh’s own contributions.

The Supreme Court did not accept this. It returned the case to the Seoul High Court, ruling that the slush fund from former President Roh was illegal money, and even if these funds were introduced into SK, they could not be considered as Noh’s contribution in the property division.

Accordingly, at the rehearing last month on July 24, the appellate panel adhered to the Supreme Court's guidance and concluded that the SK shares held by Chey were subject to division, setting the amount of the property division at 944 billion won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.