All Supreme Court Justices Reviewing Chey Taewon and Noh Soyoung Divorce Case

Ruling Possible Within the Year
Attention Focused on Potential Referral to the Grand Bench

Yonhap News Agency

It has been reported that all Supreme Court justices are reviewing the divorce and asset division case between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Noh So-young. A ruling is expected as early as within 2025.

According to a comprehensive report by Law Times, the case, which was assigned to the First Petty Bench of the Supreme Court, is being deliberated by all 13 justices as what is known as a "report case." However, it has not yet been referred to the Grand Bench (en banc).

Legal experts continue to predict that the case may be reviewed by the Grand Bench, given the numerous legal issues at stake and the high level of public interest. Generally, there are three main circumstances in which a case is referred to the Grand Bench: when a consensus cannot be reached by the four justices of the petty bench, when all four justices unanimously determine that a precedent needs to be changed, or when the Chief Justice refers the case to the Grand Bench ex officio.

There are also instances where a case referred to the Grand Bench is later returned to the petty bench for a ruling. For example, in the case where Hyundai Motor Company filed a claim for damages equivalent to fixed costs against union members (2018Da41986), the case was referred to the Grand Bench in November 2022, but a ruling was ultimately delivered by the petty bench in June 2023. This case included issues related to the so-called "Yellow Envelope Act."

The divorce case between Chairman Chey and Director Noh has drawn significant public attention due to the large scale of the asset division and the prominence of both parties. The key issues include: whether the appellate court was correct in recognizing Director Noh's contributions and including SK Inc. shares in the asset division; whether the 35% contribution ratio attributed to Director Noh is appropriate; and whether the 2 billion won in consolation money is excessive.

Previously, the court of first instance ordered Chairman Chey to pay Director Noh 100 million won in consolation money and 66.5 billion won in asset division. However, the appellate court significantly increased the amounts, raising the consolation money to 2 billion won and the asset division to approximately 1.3808 trillion won. The case was submitted to the Supreme Court in July 2024, following the appellate ruling in May 2024. The period for summary dismissal without deliberation expired on November 9, 2024.

Park Suyeon, Law Times Reporter

※This article is based on content supplied by Law Times.

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