Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young Divorce, Will the Supreme Court Full Bench Take Up the Case... Fate of Management Rights and Property Division? [AK Radio]

Supreme Court Division 1 Judges' Moderate Stance
Interest in How They View 'No Tae-woo's Slush Fund'

The divorce lawsuit between Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, Director of Art Center Nabi, has been escalated to the Supreme Court. The second trial ruling decided on a property division amounting to a record-breaking 1.3808 trillion KRW. Now, only the Supreme Court's judgment remains. Justice Seo Kyung-hwan has been appointed as the presiding judge, and the case will be handled by the Supreme Court's First Division. Since the First Division consists of moderately inclined justices, attention is focused on what kind of verdict will be delivered.

Given the high public interest in the case, there is attention on whether it will be referred to the full bench. If referred to the full bench, more than two-thirds of the justices will participate in the discussion. Although still uncertain, considering the national interest and the complexity of the issues, this is a possibility. In any case, a fierce legal battle over the contentious issues between Chairman Chey’s side and Director Noh’s side is expected.

The most notable issue in this divorce lawsuit is the amount of property division. The property division amount decided in the first trial was 66.5 billion KRW, but it sharply increased to 1.3808 trillion KRW in the second trial. At the core of this change is the second trial court’s judgment that the so-called 'Kim Ok-sook memo,' which mentions 30 billion KRW, and other slush funds of former President Roh Tae-woo acted as seed money that helped SK Group’s growth. Regarding this, Chairman Chey’s side submitted 500 pages of documents strongly refuting the second trial ruling.

Additionally, an important issue is the error that occurred during the valuation process of SK shares in the second trial ruling. The second trial initially miscalculated the value of Daehan Telecom shares but corrected this through a ruling revision after SK’s rebuttal. However, Chairman Chey’s side argues that this error significantly affects the property division amount, making the Supreme Court’s judgment on this matter crucial. Also, the 2 billion KRW in consolation money recognized in the second trial is controversial. In typical divorce lawsuits, consolation money usually ranges between 50 million and 100 million KRW, but in this case, 2 billion KRW was recognized, sparking heated discussions about the appropriateness of the amount.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Director Noh also filed a separate damages claim lawsuit against Kim Hee-young, Chairwoman of the TNC Foundation and cohabitant of Chairman Chey Tae-won, and received 2 billion KRW in consolation money in this lawsuit as well. Chairwoman Kim gave up on appealing and transferred 2 billion KRW to Director Noh immediately after the ruling. During this process, Director Noh’s side expressed dissatisfaction, stating that "the unilateral transfer of money by the adulterer’s side without prior communication was discourteous."

Meanwhile, Democratic Party lawmaker Jang Kyung-tae proposed a bill to confiscate slush funds of former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo. This bill includes provisions to confiscate criminal proceeds from those who have committed crimes that undermine the constitutional order. However, it seems unlikely that this bill will directly affect the current divorce lawsuit.

The outcome of this lawsuit holds very significant meaning for SK Group and Chairman Chey. Depending on the scale of the property division, there is a possibility of impact on management rights, and for this reason, Chairman Chey’s side appears to be preparing for various scenarios before the Supreme Court ruling. There are also observations that within SK Group, plans such as selling unlisted shares or restructuring the governance to raise funds are being discussed.

This divorce lawsuit has evolved beyond a simple family matter to a complex issue encompassing corporate management rights and social interest. Attention is focused on how the Supreme Court’s final ruling will come out and what impact this ruling will have on Korean society and the economy.

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