SK chairman ordered to pay $644 mil. in cash in property division retrial

SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won was ordered Friday to pay 944 billion won ($644 million) to his former wife, Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong, in a retrial of their high-profile property division lawsuit.

The Seoul High Court handed down the ruling during a hearing, concluding the latest round of the long-running dispute over the division of the couple's marital assets.

The court treated Chey's stake in SK Inc., the group's holding company, as property subject to division.

The court said a third of Chey’s share property is subject to Roh and two thirds to him.

The court added Chey should pay in cash for any insufficient amount of share due for Roh.

The court said it has calculated the property division using an earlier appellate court's closing date of April 16, 2024. “Although SK’s share price rose significantly between the close of arguments in the appellate trial and that of the remanded trial, it cannot be said that Chey’s managerial contributions had no impact," the court said.

The court, however, added that “to ensure an equitable division of marital property, the sub