SK Group Chairman Ordered to Pay Ex-Wife $640 Million in Divorce Settlement

Seoul. A South Korean court has ordered SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay 944 billion won (approximately 640 million US dollars) to his ex-wife Roh So-young as part of a divorce property division. The case had garnered widespread attention regarding Chey's ownership and assets in South Korea's second-largest industrial conglomerate.

This amount is significantly less than the 1.38 trillion won determined by an appellate court in 2024. Last year, South Korea's Supreme Court overturned a part of the appellate court's ruling, stating that the financial support allegedly provided by Roh's father, former President Roh Tae-woo, to SK Group could not be considered legally protected contributions.

The divorce between Chey and Roh, along with a 2 billion won compensation ruling, had already been finalized. This time, the court only settled the amount for property division. Following the ruling, a lawyer for Chey stated that a decision on whether to appeal again would be made after studying the court's decision.

With the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) technology, the international importance of SK Group has increased. SK Hynix, a chip manufacturer under the group, has become a major supplier of high-capacity high-bandwidth memory (HBM) chips used in Nvidia's AI processors, leading to a significant increase in the company's value and investor interest.

For this reason, investors are closely watching Chey's 17.9 percent ownership in SK Inc., the holding company of SK Group. It is anticipated that he may need to take out loans, sell assets, or pledge his shares to pay the large cash amount.

The Seoul High Court has deemed Chey's shares in SK Inc. and other assets as marital property. The court ruled that these assets should be valued as of April 16, 2024. Although the share price has increased significantly since then, the court stated that there was no need to change the base date for valuation.

The court decided to give Roh one-third and Chey two-thirds of the property division. This ratio is slightly less than the 35 percent share awarded to Roh by the appellate court in 2024.

The court ordered Chey not to transfer his shares to his ex-wife, but rather to pay the entire amount in cash. According to the court, this would maintain managerial control over SK Group. If either party is dissatisfied with this decision, the case may be escalated to South Korea's Supreme Court.