APPEAL:
Chey Tae-won’s lawyers said that the case would return to the Supreme Court ‘to minimize negative impact on shareholders and the group’s management’
A South Korean tycoon has appealed a court ruling ordering him to pay US$666 million to his former wife in the country’s largest-ever divorce settlement, his lawyers said yesterday.Chey Tae-won, 65, is the chairman of SK Group, which owns world-leading memory chipmaker SK Hynix — a pillar of South Korea’s tech-led economy.The Seoul High Court in 2024 told him to pay 1.38 trillion won (US$974 million at the current exchange rate) to his ex-wife, Roh Soh-yeong. The sum — equal to more than US$1 billion at the exchange rate at the time of the ruling — led local media to dub it the “divorce of the century.”
A combination photograph shows SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, left, and his ex-wife, Roh Soh-yeong, arriving at the Seoul High Court on June 26.
Chey appealed to the South Korean Supreme Court, which told the High Court to reconsider its 2024 decision and led to the tycoon’s reduced divorce bill of 944 billion won in July — still the largest divorce asset settlement ever awarded in South Korea.The High Court last month ruled that Roh was entitled to a cash payout worth one-third of the couple’s marital assets, including Chey’s SK shares, citing her family role and support for SK Group activities.
