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The head of South Korea’s SK Group, Chey Tae-won, has been ordered to pay 944 milliards de wons (566 millions d’euros) to his ex-wife, Roh Soh-yeong, in what local media have termed the “divorce of the century,” following a high-stakes legal battle closely tied to the meteoric rise of semiconductor giant SK hynix.
A Reduced Payout After Supreme Court Intervention
According to reports from Agence France-Presse (AFP) and outlets such as lessentiel.lu, the ruling handed down on Friday by the Seoul High Court represents the latest chapter in a multi-year judicial saga. The appellate court was forced to revisit its earlier 2024 judgment—which had initially awarded Roh Soh-yeong 1 380 milliards de wons (830 millions d’euros)—following a directive from the Supreme Court.
In its revised decision, the High Court determined that Roh was entitled to a share of assets equivalent to one-third of the SK Group shares held by Chey. “The participation of the defendant appreciated substantially during the marriage,” the court stated in its written ruling, as cited by lessentiel.lu. The court further noted that the plaintiff had contributed to this financial expansion through domestic work, child-rearing, and public activities connected to SK Group.
The Artificial Intelligence Boom and SK Group Valuation
At the center of the ongoing dispute is the dramatic valuation surge of SK Group, driven heavily by global demand for artificial intelligence technologies. SK hynix, a core subsidiary of the conglomerate, has seen its profits explode in recent months on the back of the AI boom.
Legal proceedings between the couple have moved through various courts since 2022. According to court findings, SK Group shares have more than tripled in value since Chey publicly acknowledged an extramarital relationship in 2015. “The court took into account the sharp rise in the value of the defendant’s holdings to fix the property division ratio,” the ruling noted.
Background and Prior Legal Actions
They share three children, though they lived apart for roughly fifteen years prior to the legal dissolution of their marriage.
In addition to the multi-billion-won property division, Roh has already secured a separate one-time alimony payment equivalent to 2 milliards de wons (1,2 million d’euros) through independent legal channels, according to regional reporting.
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