Source: The Korea Times

What happened

According to The Korea Times, the Seoul High Court on Friday ordered SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay 944 billion won (about US$644 million) to his former wife, Art Center Nabi director Roh Soh-yeong, in the remanded property-division case. The hearing closed the latest round of a years-long fight over marital assets after the Supreme Court last October overturned and sent back the prior appellate division ruling while leaving divorce and alimony issues settled on the earlier track.

The breakdown

The court treated Chey’s stake in SK Inc., the group holding company, as property subject to division. It said one-third of Chey’s share property goes to Roh and two-thirds to him, and that Chey should pay cash for any shortfall if share delivery is insufficient.

The court calculated the division using an earlier appellate closing date of April 16, 2024. It noted that SK’s share price rose significantly between the close of arguments in the appellate trial and the remanded trial, but said Chey’s managerial contributions could not be treated as irrelevant. At the same time, it said the substantial share-price increase was taken into account “to ensure an equitable division.”

In line with the Supreme Court, the high court said that even if former President Roh Tae-woo had provided 30 billion won in slush funds to the SK side, that would not count as Roh Soh-yeong’s contribution for property division. Shares Chey had gifted to relatives to maintain management control and run business before the marriage broke down were excluded from the divisible pool.

Chey’s counsel said after the verdict that the chairman “sincerely regrets having caused concern to many people,” and that Chey would announce a detailed position after reviewing the written judgment.

Timeline context from the Times: the couple married in 1988; Chey publicly disclosed in 2015 a long separation and a child outside the marriage; the legal fight ran from mediation in 2017 through a 2024 appellate jump to 2 billion won alimony and 1.38 trillion won division before the Supreme Court remand. The top court upheld the 2 billion won alimony and sent only asset division back.

Why it matters outside Korea

Chaebol governance stories travel because SK Inc. and SK hynix sit in global portfolios. A cash-heavy 944 billion won obligation — lower than the vacated 1.38 trillion won appellate figure, but still enormous — is a control-and-liquidity story, not celebrity gossip. Overseas readers following Korean corporate risk should track whether settlement, appeal, or share sales become the next chapter.

What travelers and expats should watch

• Do not confuse headlines: this is a civil asset-division outcome after divorce finalization, not a criminal conviction.
• Market chatter vs. court text: treat “SK shares in the marital pool” as a legal holding-company issue, not a reason to invent trading rumors.
• Compare magnitudes: 944 billion won is below the prior 1.38 trillion won appellate order but far above the 2022 first-instance division.
• Alimony is already settled at 2 billion won on the Supreme Court track — Friday’s fight was the property split.

Context

The Supreme Court’s remand rejected counting alleged illegal slush-fund flows as Roh’s marital contribution, which forced the high court to rebuild the ratio without that pillar. Korelay’s framing: the overseas-useful fact is the one-third / two-thirds share split plus cash true-up at 944 billion won, after a nine-year legal arc. Read the Times piece for counsel quotes and the full procedural ladder before treating social-media summaries as the judgment.

Korelay take

The Supreme Court’s remand rejected counting alleged illegal slush-fund flows as Roh’s marital contribution, which forced the high court to rebuild the ratio without that pillar. Korelay’s framing: the overseas-useful fact is the one-third / two-thirds share split plus cash true-up at 944 billion won, after a nine-year legal arc. Read the Times piece for counsel quotes and the full procedural ladder before treating social-media summaries as the judgment.

Editor note: Desk reporting supplies the timeline; Korelay adds the overseas behavior layer (what to change, what not to assume, what to re-check). If you only need the wire facts, open the primary link in Source.

Source

Korea Times: SK chairman ordered to pay $644 mil. in cash in property division retrial — paraphrased for briefing; read the original for full detail.