Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young Divorce Lawsuit Appeal Trial... First Hearing on the 9th

11 Months After the First Trial Verdict

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Noh So-young's divorce lawsuit appeal trial will be held this week. It has been about 11 months since the first trial verdict was announced last December.

The Family Division 2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Kim Si-cheol) will hold the first preparatory hearing for the divorce lawsuit appeal trial between Chairman Chey and Director Noh at 2 p.m. on the 9th. During this preparatory hearing, the court will review the arguments and evidence from both sides and, if necessary, decide on witness examinations.

Chairman Chey married Director Noh, the daughter of the late former President Roh Tae-woo, in September 1988, and they had three children. However, in December 2015, he publicly revealed that he had an extramarital child and expressed his intention to divorce Director Noh. Subsequently, in July 2017, Chairman Chey filed for divorce mediation against Director Noh.

Director Noh, who opposed the divorce, filed a counterclaim in December 2019, demanding 300 million KRW in alimony and half of Chairman Chey's SK shares worth approximately 1.3 trillion KRW as property division.

The first trial in December last year ruled that the couple should divorce, and Chairman Chey was ordered to pay Director Noh 100 million KRW in alimony and 66.5 billion KRW in cash for property division. However, Director Noh appealed the verdict on the 19th of the same month, and Chairman Chey also filed an appeal three days later.

Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK Group (left) and Noh So-young, Director of Art Center Nabi. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The court will re-examine their dispute over property division. The amount demanded by both parties for property division reaches 1 trillion KRW. This is considered the largest divorce lawsuit in South Korea. Chairman Chey is the de facto controlling shareholder of SK Group. He holds shares in SK Group affiliates such as SK Inc. and SK Telecom.

Director Noh's 3 billion KRW alimony lawsuit against Chairman Chey's cohabitant, Kim Hee-young, Chairperson of the T&C Foundation, will also be held this month. The Family Division 4 of the Seoul Family Court will conduct the first preparatory hearing for the damages claim lawsuit filed by Director Noh against Chairperson Kim on the 23rd. Director Noh stated, "I suffered severe mental distress due to the breakdown of my marriage with Chairman Chey," and "In March, I filed a lawsuit seeking 3 billion KRW in damages against Chairperson Kim."

Additionally, the Seoul Central District Court will hold a mediation hearing at 3 p.m. on the 8th for the real estate delivery claim lawsuit filed by SK Innovation against Art Center Nabi, where Director Noh serves as director. In April this year, SK Innovation filed a lawsuit requesting Art Center Nabi to vacate the property. Art Center Nabi is a media art museum located on the 4th floor of the SK Seorin Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, and is the successor to the Walkerhill Museum, which was operated by Director Noh's mother-in-law. The SK Seorin Building houses many SK Group affiliates and serves as the de facto headquarters.

Chairman Chey attracted attention when he was seen attending a gala dinner event in Paris, France, on the 14th of last month (local time) together with his cohabitant Chairperson Kim. Although the two have attended the same official events before, this was the first time they stood side by side in front of cameras.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.