Attention on Whether SK Shares Will Be Included in Property Division Target
The appellate court ruling on the divorce lawsuit between Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, will be announced on the 30th.
From the left, Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, Director of Art Center Nabi. [Image source=Yonhap News]
According to the legal community on the 30th, the Family Division 2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Kim Si-cheol, Kim Ok-gon, Lee Dong-hyun) will hold the appellate hearing for the divorce lawsuit between Chairman Chey and Director Noh at 2 p.m. that day.
The main issue in the appeal, unlike the first trial, is whether the SK shares owned by Chairman Chey will be recognized as subject to property division. Director Noh’s side argues that she made a substantial contribution to the growth of SK Group and cooperated through support and household labor, so it is necessary to reflect this in the property division.
On the other hand, Chairman Chey’s side claims that the SK shares are separate property and therefore not subject to property division. Separate property refers to assets that one spouse owned before marriage or acquired during marriage through inheritance or gifts in their own name. In principle, separate property is not subject to division upon divorce.
Previously, the first trial court accepted Director Noh’s claim in December 2022 and ruled that Chairman Chey should divorce Director Noh, ordering him to pay 100 million won in alimony and 66.5 billion won in cash as property division. However, the court did not accept Director Noh’s demand for 50% of Chairman Chey’s SK shares as part of the property division. The court judged that “it is difficult to see that Director Noh substantially contributed to the formation and maintenance of SK shares.”
Both parties appealed the first trial ruling. In the appellate court, Director Noh changed her property division claim from SK shares worth over 1 trillion won to 2 trillion won in cash and also increased the alimony claim to 3 billion won.
They have also engaged in fierce off-court battles since the first trial ruling. In March last year, Director Noh filed a lawsuit seeking damages of about 3 billion won against Kim Hee-young, director of the T&C Foundation and Chairman Chey’s cohabitant, accusing her in the media of “actively approaching Chairman Chey under the pretext of counseling despite being married, continuing an affair, and even giving birth to an illegitimate child.”
In response, Chairman Chey’s side rebutted, saying, “The marriage with Director Noh had already completely broken down long before meeting a new person,” and “She made one-sided statements to the media to gain a favorable conclusion in the property division trial.”
In November last year, when Director Noh’s representative told reporters that “Chairman Chey is believed to have spent over 100 billion won on Director Kim,” Chairman Chey’s side filed a complaint against him for spreading false information.
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