Cho Kuk: "SK Chey Tae-won and Noh So-young's Assets Are Profits from Collusion Crimes"

Representative Jo Guk Posts on SNS
"No Interest in Choi Tae-won's Affair"

Jo Guk, leader of the Jo Guk Innovation Party, argued that more attention should be paid to the fact that the wealth accumulated by the couple in the divorce lawsuit between Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, is criminal proceeds derived from slush funds and collusion between politics and business, rather than the amount of alimony or property division.

On the morning of the 2nd, Jo stated on social media (SNS), "I am not interested in the breakdown of affection between the two," emphasizing that what matters to him is not their love story or the amount of property division, but "the fact that the court ruled that the wealth accumulated by the couple is proceeds from crimes involving slush funds and collusion between politics and business."

Representative Jo Guk of the Jo Guk Innovation Party
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Jo analyzed, "The Family Division 2 of the Seoul High Court judged that the six promissory notes worth 5 billion won each (totaling 30 billion won) given by former SK chairman Choi Jong-hyun, father of Chairman Chey Tae-won, to former President Roh Tae-woo in 1991-1992, were reasonably considered to have been directly used and disposed of by the Roh administration by mixing them with personal funds held by Choi in 1991."

He added, "SK would not have become the telecommunications conglomerate it is today without the help of Roh Tae-woo, who was then their in-law. Although rumors about slush funds were widespread at the time, the prosecution did not investigate at all. The Act on the Regulation of Concealment of Criminal Proceeds was enacted in 2001, so it does not apply to illegal acts before then, but is it right that Chey Tae-won and Noh So-young inherited these proceeds intact?"

He continued, "What we should pay more attention to is not Chairman Chey Tae-won's infidelity or the amount of property division between the couple, but the origin of this enormous wealth and the prosecution's dereliction of duty at the time," adding, "We must also watch whether there are companies benefiting from collusion between politics and business under the Yoon Seok-yeol administration, and whether the prosecution is investigating such matters, which are subject to direct prosecution."

On the afternoon of the 16th of last month, Chairman Choi and Director Noh appeared side by side at the divorce lawsuit appeal trial held at the Seoul High Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, on the 30th of last month, the Family Division 2 of the Seoul High Court ruled in the divorce lawsuit between Chairman Chey and Director Noh that "the plaintiff (Chairman Chey) must pay the defendant (Director Noh) 2 billion won in alimony and 1.3808 trillion won in property division." This amount is a significant increase from the 100 million won in alimony and 66.5 billion won in property division recognized in the first trial in December 2022, with the property division amount being the largest ever known to date. The court estimated the couple's total assets at approximately 4.0115 trillion won and ruled that Chairman Chey and Director Noh should divide the property at 65% and 35%, respectively.

The court recognized Director Noh's contribution to the SK shares owned by Chairman Chey, deeming them marital property. The court stated, "The SK shares were acquired during the marriage period, and it is judged that a substantial amount of funds flowed from former President Roh Tae-woo to the plaintiff's father in 1991," adding, "Plaintiff's father Choi Jong-hyun played a shielding role in the acquisition of Taepyungyang Securities and the entry into the mobile telecommunications business, ultimately providing intangible support for the successful management activities of SK Group."

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