Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young Face Each Other in Court After 6 Years... Enter and Exit Separately (Comprehensive)

As of the official hearing date, it is the first time across both the 1st and 2nd trials
Both individuals remained silent in response to reporters' questions
Second hearing scheduled for the 16th of next month... sentencing date to be set after the conclusion of the trial

Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, faced each other in the second trial of their divorce lawsuit on the 12th. It was the first time in six years that the two met face-to-face in court.

Chairman Choi and Director Noh appeared at the first hearing of the divorce lawsuit appeal trial held by the Family Division 2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Kim Si-cheol, Kim Ok-gon, Lee Dong-hyun) in the afternoon.

Under the Family Litigation Act, parties in a divorce lawsuit are not obligated to appear in court, but Chairman Choi and Director Noh attended in person.

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Noh So-young, Director of Art Center Nabi, faced each other on the afternoon of the 12th at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, during the appeal trial of their divorce lawsuit. The photo shows Director Noh So-young (left) entering the courtroom and Chairman Chey Tae-won leaving the courtroom that day. Photo by Choi Seo-yoon

The two met face-to-face in court for the first time in about six years since the mediation hearing at the Seoul Family Court on January 16, 2018. Considering formal hearing dates, this was the first time across both the first and second trials.

The trial was held privately for about two hours starting at 2 p.m. that day.

Chairman Choi and Director Noh entered and exited the court separately. Director Noh arrived at the court around 1:50 p.m. and went into the courtroom, while Chairman Choi entered later than her. After the hearing, Chairman Choi left the courtroom first. Director Noh left later through a different exit and departed the court.

Chairman Choi did not respond to reporters' questions such as "What is the reason for your direct appearance in court?", "What position did you express in court?", and "Do you accept Director Noh's demand for property division?" Director Noh also did not answer questions about the trial.

However, on his way out, Chairman Choi murmured to himself while raising his palm toward the sky, "It's raining," and Director Noh only said, "I'm sorry."

On the afternoon of the 12th, Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, was seen murmuring "It's raining" as he left the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, after finishing the appeal trial of a divorce lawsuit.
Photo by Choi Seo-yoon

The court had originally scheduled the first hearing of the appeal trial on January 11. However, the trial was postponed due to issues with Chairman Choi's attorney appointment and changes in the panel of judges.

Earlier, two days before the hearing, Chairman Choi included two lawyers from Kim & Chang law firm, where the nephew of a judge on the second trial panel worked, in his legal team. The Supreme Court Public Officials Ethics Committee recommends that judges avoid handling cases involving law firms where their third- or fourth-degree relatives work as lawyers.

Although a potential conflict of interest was raised, after Chairman Choi submitted a new power of attorney on January 9 requesting a review of whether this constituted grounds for reassignment, the court ruled that it did not qualify as such.

Meanwhile, one of the judges on the panel, the late Kang Sang-wook of the Seoul High Court, suddenly collapsed and passed away during exercise on January 11, leading to a change in the panel.

In the first trial, Director Noh demanded 300 million KRW in alimony and half of the SK Inc. shares held by Chairman Choi, worth about 1 trillion KRW (approximately 6.49 million shares), as property division. However, the first trial court ruled that Chairman Choi should pay Director Noh 66.5 billion KRW as property division and 100 million KRW as alimony. Chairman Choi's divorce claim was also dismissed.

No So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, is leaving the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 12th after the appeal trial of the divorce lawsuit with Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group.
[Photo by Choi Seo-yoon]

Director Noh appealed the first trial ruling, which judged that business assets such as stocks could not be divided. In the appeal, she changed the form of property division from stocks to cash, increased the amount from about 1 trillion KRW to approximately 2 trillion KRW, and raised the alimony claim to 3 billion KRW. Chairman Choi stated that he could accept the property division amount of 66.5 billion KRW but could not agree to the 100 million KRW alimony and the dismissal of the divorce claim.

Chairman Choi married Director Noh, 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 Choi filed for divorce mediation against Director Noh.

The court plans to conclude the trial after the second hearing scheduled for the 16th of next month and set a date for the verdict.

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