Chey Taewon Agrees to 700 Billion Won Out of 944 Billion Property Division, Will Contest Only 244 Billion in Supreme Court

Appropriateness of Recognizing Noh's 33.3% Contribution After Excluding Slush Funds
Supreme Court to Review Inclusion of SK Inc. Share Value and SK Siltron Equity

Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, has decided to accept 700 billion won out of the total 944 billion won in property division that was ruled to be paid to Noh So-young, Director of Art Center Nabi, and will seek a Supreme Court decision only on the remaining 244 billion won. The intention is to narrow the issues in this long-running divorce case and bring the trial to an early conclusion.

Taekwon Chey, Chairman of SK Group (left), and Soyoung Noh, Director of Art Center Nabi Photo by Yonhap News

According to the legal community on September 9, Chairman Chey’s legal team submitted a motion to reduce the grounds for appeal to the Seoul High Court on August 31. Of the 944 billion won in property division granted by the remand trial, they will no longer contest the 700 billion won portion, seeking a Supreme Court ruling only on the 244 billion won difference. Chey’s side stated, “Since the dispute has been prolonged for too long, we agreed to accept up to 700 billion won in order to reduce the scope and resolve the case swiftly,” adding, “We believe amounts beyond this are legally problematic and plan to contest that part.” As a result, the scope of issues the Supreme Court will consider regarding property division on re-appeal is expected to be significantly narrowed.

One of the key issues is whether it was appropriate to recognize Director Noh’s contribution to the formation of property at 33.3%, even after excluding the 30 billion won in slush funds of the late former President Roh Tae-woo from the property division assessment. The Supreme Court previously ruled that the 30 billion won in illicit funds should not be considered in property division. However, in the remanded trial, the court only reduced Noh’s recognized contribution from the previous appellate court’s 35% to 33.3%, a decrease of just 1.7 percentage points. Chey’s side is reportedly arguing that if the slush fund was excluded in calculating the property, Noh’s contribution should also have been reduced accordingly.

The Supreme Court is also expected to consider whether it was appropriate to include the increase in the value of SK Inc. shares after the de facto confirmation of the divorce in the property division amount. Another issue is the decision to include shares of SK Siltron in the property division. Chey acquired these shares in 2017, after the marital relationship had essentially broken down. There is expected to be legal debate over whether assets acquired after the breakdown of the marriage can be considered as jointly formed through the couple’s contributions.

Earlier, on August 14, the Family Panel 1 of the Seoul High Court (presiding judge Lee Sang-joo) ordered Chey to pay 944 billion won in cash to Noh as property division in the remanded trial. Chey’s side immediately filed a reappeal on the same day. Noh’s side has not submitted a cross-appeal as of yet. For Noh’s side to file a cross-appeal, it must be submitted before the 20-day deadline for Chairman Chey’s submission of the statement of grounds for appeal expires.

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