1.4 Trillion 'Divorce of the Century' Sparks Fire on SNS

Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, was ordered by the appellate court to pay 2 billion KRW in alimony and 1.38 trillion KRW in property division to No So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, sparking heated online discussions and earning the nickname "Divorce of the Century."

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

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On the afternoon of the 30th at 2 PM, the Family Division 2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Kim Si-chul, Kim Ok-gon, Lee Dong-hyun) ruled similarly in the second trial of the divorce lawsuit between the two. While the first trial did not recognize the SK Holdings Co., Ltd. shares held by Chairman Choi as subject to property division, the appellate court judged that "shares are also subject to division." News of this ruling quickly spread and became a major topic online.

Summarizing reactions from various online communities and social networking services (SNS), the majority expressed support for Director No. Netizens commented, "A proper judgment has been made," "This sets a good precedent for women divorcing faulted spouses," "A harsh blow to the act of abandoning one’s lawful wife after rising through the father-in-law’s influence," "Those who witnessed SK’s growth thanks to No Tae-woo are living well, yet this is shameless," "Hope he realizes that causing tears in others’ eyes brings blood tears to his own," and "Supporting Director No until the end," among others.

There were also reactions analyzing Chairman Choi’s behavior during the divorce process. Questions such as "Why did he openly attend official events with his mistress during the trial, cut off living expenses to No So-young, cancel credit cards, evict Art Center Nabi (where No So-young is the representative) from the SK building, and only engage in actions unfavorable in court?" were frequent. Some netizens speculated, "The influence of his cohabitant (Kim Hee-young, director of T&C Foundation) must have been strong."

Some responses took a satirical tone regarding the situation. Comments included, "Is it now SK Chairman No So-young?", "Chairman Choi Tae-won, who loved over 1 trillion won, how romantic," and "Considering the support from the president, 1.38 trillion KRW is a bargain," among others.

However, some opinions stated, "If the wife wrote petitions opposing the pardon to prevent her husband from getting out of prison, I would have lost respect for her too." In the past, it was reported that Director No sent a letter to former President Park Geun-hye through a high-ranking official of the Park administration, requesting that Chairman Choi Tae-won not be pardoned just before his pardon on Liberation Day in 2015, when he was serving time on charges including embezzlement.

Additionally, during the second trial, it was revealed that Director No’s side claimed that about 34.3 billion KRW from the "slush funds" of her father, former President No Tae-woo, in the 1990s was delivered to former Chairman Choi Jong-hyun and Chairman Choi Tae-won, and was used for the acquisition of a securities company in 1992 and the purchase of SK shares in 1994. This led to reactions such as "If property is divided, some should be contributed to the state."

Previously, Chairman Choi, eldest son of the late SK former chairman Choi Jong-hyun, and Director No, daughter of the late No Tae-woo, met while studying at the University of Chicago in the United States, attracting public attention as the "marriage of the century." However, the public was shocked when Chairman Choi confessed to having an extramarital child while still married to Director No. Subsequently, in July 2017, Chairman Choi filed for divorce citing personality differences. This led to a divorce lawsuit, and the first trial ordered Chairman Choi to pay 100 million KRW in alimony and 66.5 billion KRW in property division to Director No. However, the appellate court overturned the first trial and ordered payment of 1.38 trillion KRW in property division and 2 billion KRW in alimony, earning the case the nickname "Divorce of the Century."

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