South Korean court has ordered SK Group chairman Chey Tae‑won to pay 944 billion won (around $644 million) to his ex‑wife in a divorce settlement that local media have dubbed the "divorce of the century".
The award still requires finalisation, and it is below the 1.38 trillion won that the chairman was instructed to pay in 2024—a figure that was struck down last year by the Supreme Court.
Chey was married to Roh Soh‑yeong, the daughter of former president Roh Tae‑woo, for 35 years before the split. The divorce came after revelations that he had fathered a child with another woman.
SK Group, known globally for its semiconductor subsidiary SK Hynix, has seen a surge in value thanks to booming AI chip demand. In recent months the company topped $1 trillion on the Korean market and raised $26.5 billion in a record-setting New York share offering.
Lawyers for Chey issued a statement apologising for the impact of the proceedings and pledged to review the ruling before releasing a detailed defence.
The decision comes amid scrutiny of chaebols—family‑owned conglomerates that dominate South Korea’s economy—and the legal scrutiny of assets tied to political figures. The court found that 30 billion won once given by Roh Tae‑woo in 1991 was illegally sourced and therefore should not be counted in the couple’s assets.
Previous court rulings had awarded Chey that amount but were overturned due to the illegality of the funds. The new judgment has captured national attention, reflecting the intertwined worlds of wealth, politics and corporate governance in Korea.
SK Group’s influence extends well beyond semiconductors. Its telecom arm SK Telecom services billions of customers across the country, and its energy and green‑tech divisions are expanding rapidly.
President Lee Jae‑Myung recently praised Chey for his role in advancing Korea’s AI strategy, raising the public profile of the chaebol and the chairman alike.
