▲ These file images show SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won (L) and Roh Soh-yeong appearing for a hearing at the Seoul High Court in the capital city on April 16, 2024. (Yonhap)
▲ A lawyer for SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won speaks to reporters after the Supreme Court's ruling on Chey's divorce case outside the court in southern Seoul on Oct. 16, 2025. (Yonhap)

(4th LD) SK Group chairman-divorce ruling

(4th LD) Supreme Court sends back SK Group chairman's divorce case to lower court

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By Chae Yun-hwan

SEOUL, Oct. 16 (Yonhap) -- The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a lower court's ruling for SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay about 1.4 trillion won (US$986 million) in property division to his estranged wife, in a respite for Chey over the nation's biggest divorce settlement case.

The top court sent the case back to the appellate court, citing issues with the property division between Chey, the chairman of South Korea's second-largest conglomerate, and Roh Soh-yeong.

In May last year, the Seoul High Court ordered Chey to pay 1.38 trillion won in property division and 2 billion won in alimony to Roh, former President Roh Tae-woo's only daughter.

The lower court had recognized a purported slush fund of 30 billion won from the former president was funneled to Chey's father, and took it into consideration in the property division.

The Supreme Court, however, said the fund could not be considered in the case as it appeared to have been illegally formed through bribes.

Meanwhile, the top court confirmed the 2 billion won in alimony for Roh, saying it did not find issues with the amount.

A legal representative for Chey said they respected the Supreme Court ruling.

"It is a relief that errors in the appellate ruling, including misinterpretations of the law and misunderstanding of facts, were corrected. (We) respect the ruling," the lawyer said.

Asked about the ruling as he left for the United States later in the day to attend a global business leaders meeting, Chey declined to comment.

Chey only said he will work to make contributions to the economy as South Korea faces various challenges, such as hefty tariffs imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Chey plans to discuss cooperation on a massive artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure project, dubbed the Stargate project, with SoftBank Group Chairman Masayoshi Son and other Korean business tycoons, including Samsung Electronics Co. Chairman Lee Jae-yong and Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Euisun Chung, at Trump's private resort Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, this week.

The case dates back to 2015 when Chey announced a divorce plan, admitting to having an extramarital lover and a child with her, and filed for a divorce settlement two years later. Chey and Roh married in 1988 and have three children.

Roh raised a countersuit in 2019, demanding around half of the SK shares owned by Chey in the property division.

In December 2022, the Seoul Family Court ordered Chey to pay 100 million won in alimony and 66.5 billion won in cash as part of the property division.

The appellate court, however, determined the couple's combined wealth to be 4 trillion won, with a division rate of 65 percent for Chey and 35 percent for Roh.

Chey appealed the ruling, claiming errors in the calculation of Roh's contribution to the company's growth.

With uncertainties resurfacing over the prolonged divorce settlement case, shares of SK Group's affiliates dropped.

As of 1:30 p.m., SK Inc. shares were trading at 216,000 won, down 6.7 percent from the previous session.

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