Why Choi Tae-won's Alimony of 100 Million Won Is Too Much

One-Third of Divorce Lawsuit Amount
Some Parties Say "Far Too Low"
First Judgment with Over 100 Million Won Alimony
Clearly Establishing Responsibility for Marriage Breakdown

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

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seoyoon] A billionaire asset owner has revealed himself to have an illegitimate child. This corresponds to the first ground for divorce stipulated in Article 840 of the Civil Act. After 7 years of confessing to the illegitimate child and 5 years since the divorce lawsuit began, the family court ruled that he must pay 100 million won in alimony for divorce. This amount is about one-third of the alimony amount requested by his spouse.

This is about Chairman Choi Tae-won, who leads SK Group, ranked second in the business world. After this ruling, many women said, "The alimony is ridiculously low." The value of Chairman Choi’s SK Inc. shares alone is in the 2.6 trillion won range. 100 million won seems too small. However, among divorce specialist lawyers, many were surprised that the alimony was actually quite high. This is the first time in a publicly disclosed court ruling that alimony in the hundreds of millions of won has appeared.

In divorce lawsuits, courts recognize alimony in cases of either infidelity or assault. The alimony amount for infidelity tends to be higher than for assault. Until just a few years ago, the upper limit for alimony due to infidelity was around 15 million won. However, recently, that amount has been increasing. Nowadays, rulings of 20 million won are common. The legal community has considered the upper limit for alimony to be 50 million won so far. One divorce specialist lawyer said, "Even in cases not just of simple infidelity but involving illegitimate children, the alimony upper limit is 50 million won."

This ruling is analyzed as the court making a burden-free judgment by setting a small division amount but the highest-ever level of alimony. The court ruled that a total of 66.6 billion won, including 66.5 billion won in property division and 100 million won in alimony, be paid to Director Noh. While allowing the conclusion with only about 5% of the property division amount requested by Director Noh, the court clearly established that Chairman Choi is responsible for the breakdown of the marriage. When calculating alimony, the court considers the circumstances of the misconduct, degree of involvement, duration and frequency of the misconduct, circumstances after discovery, as well as age, occupation, and property status.

Separate from legal practice, criticism has arisen over the amount of alimony for Chairman Choi. In fact, there is some consensus even within the legal community that the alimony amount itself is low. Kim Jung-se, representative lawyer of Law Firm Jaehyun, said, "It is true that it is low compared to foreign countries, and 20 million won is considered low by both the parties and the legal community," adding, "Since there is no way to measure the extent of mental suffering, the court seems to maintain a conservative attitude." The increase of alimony to around 15 million won only occurred after 2015. Before that, it was even lower. After this trial, there are calls to revise the level of alimony based on past precedents and outdated practices to fit the times.