A Seoul appeals court on Friday ordered SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay 944 billion won, about $679 million, in property division to his estranged wife, Noh So-young, head of the Art Center Nabi. The court said Chey’s SK stock is included in the marital assets to be divided, but Noh’s share will be paid in cash so Chey can keep the shares for management control purposes.
The Seoul High Court’s Family Division 1 said it calculated the value of the SK stock based on the record before the prior appeal was closed and set the property split at one-third for Noh and two-thirds for Chey. The court also said it did not consider the 30 billion won in funds associated with former President Roh Tae-woo in determining Noh’s contribution or the division ratio.
The ruling comes nine years after the divorce mediation case was filed. The court held its remanded ruling after the Supreme Court sent the case back in October, saying the Roh family funds were illegal and could not be counted as Noh’s contribution to the growth or value of Chey’s shares.
In earlier rulings, the trial court had awarded Noh 665 million won in property division and 100 million won in damages, excluding SK stock as Chey’s separate property. The appeals court later raised the property division to 1.3808 trillion won and damages to 2 billion won, but the Supreme Court sent the case back for reconsideration.
