Lee Jun-seok "50% Alimony on At-Fault Spouse's Property"... SK 'Divorce of the Century' Political Sphere Involvement

Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young Divorce Mentioned in Reform New Party Pledge
"Introduction of Punitive Alimony for the Party Responsible for Divorce"

Regarding the appeal ruling in the divorce lawsuit between Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, Lee Jun-seok, a member of the Reform New Party, stated, “We will strive to adjust the marriage and divorce systems to fit the times.”

On the 30th of last month, the Family Division 2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Kim Si-cheol, Kim Ok-gon, Lee Dong-hyun) ruled that Chairman Chey must pay Noh 2 billion KRW in alimony and 1.3808 trillion KRW in property division.

In response, on the 1st, Representative Lee shared on his Facebook, “The second trial result of a certain corporate chairman’s divorce case is drawing attention these days,” along with a link to the Reform New Party’s general election pledge announced in February.

Lee Jun-seok, Member of the Reform New Party Photo by Yonhap News

At that time, the Reform New Party announced that it would specify the fault-based provisions regarding divorce and introduce a system of punitive alimony amounting to up to 50% of the at-fault spouse’s property. The purpose is to introduce an alimony system with the character of punitive damages to protect the party not responsible for the breakdown of the marriage.

Representative Lee said, “The Reform New Party has been saying that social systems should be gradually revised even if it does not have a big impact on votes before the parliamentary elections,” and added, “The issues of low birthrate and population decline should be considered not only as matters of cash support and subsidies but also in connection with marriage and divorce systems that affect the marriage rate itself.”

The divorce lawsuit ruling between Chairman Chey and Director Noh has recently been repeatedly mentioned in political circles as well.

Hong Joon-pyo, mayor of Daegu, previously stated on the 31st of last month in his community “Youth’s Dream” in response to questions about this ruling, “Seonkyung Textile’s big opportunity to become the SK telecommunications conglomerate was because President Roh Tae-woo selected SK as a mobile telecommunications operator,” and added, “One must be prepared for that level of property division.”

Cho Kuk, leader of the Cho Kuk Reform Party, also said on the 2nd, “The media only focuses on the record-breaking property division and alimony, but I have no interest in the affection breakdown between the two,” and mentioned the issue of collusion between politics and business, saying, “Without the help of former President Roh Tae-woo, who was related by marriage, SK would not have become the telecommunications conglomerate it is today.”