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Case file s471 · Divorce and feuds · 2015
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2015
Died
living; divorce announced December 2015
Place
Seoul · South Korea
Field
SK Group (energy, telecoms, chips)
Legal tradition
Korean civil law · Civil law · Chinese and East Asian law
Historical event
Largest divorce award in Korean history
Divorce and feudsNowEast AsiaSouth Korea
AI illustration: The Supreme Court of Korea in Seoul
Illustration made with AI for celebrity.estate.

A Korean court ordered SK Group's chairman to pay his ex-wife 1.38 trillion won, and the Supreme Court threw it out

Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, married Roh Soh-yeong, daughter of former president Roh Tae-woo, in 1988. They separated in 2011. In December 2015 Chey announced he wanted to end the 27-year marriage and disclosed a child with another woman†. In December 2022 the Seoul Family Court granted the divorce and let Chey keep most of his SK shares. On appeal, the Seoul High Court in May 2024 ordered him to pay 1.3808 trillion won, about $1 billion, the largest award in Korean history, counting money from Roh Tae-woo as a contribution to SK's growth†. SK shares rose 16 percent on the ruling. On October 16, 2025 the Supreme Court overturned the property award, citing a miscalculation that inflated the couple's assets, and finalized the divorce and 2 billion won in alimony. On retrial in July 2026 the Seoul High Court ordered 944 billion won. Chey appealed again in August 2026.

What the law took from it

Courts can treat a father-in-law's money as a contribution to a business, and that can put control shares on the table.

Sources
  1. BBCPress
  2. BBCPress
  3. CNBCPress
  4. Korea JoongAng DailyPress

Cite as: celebrity.estate, “A Korean court ordered SK Group's chairman to pay his ex-wife 1.38 trillion won, and the Supreme Court threw it out,” story s471, https://www.celebrity.estate/sk-group-2015, updated 30 October 2026.

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Where this case sits

Divorce and feudsNowEast AsiaCivil lawChinese and East Asian lawSouth Korea