Value of Korea Telecom in 1998: 100 KRW → 1,000 KRW
Choi Tae-won's contribution revised from 355x to 35.6x
Choi Tae-won's side: "This is not a problem that can be solved by simply correcting numbers"
The appellate court, which ruled that SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won must pay over 1.3 trillion won to Noh So-young, director of the Art Center Nabi, as property division following their divorce, is understood to have partially revised the judgment on the 17th. It reflected the contribution to the increase in stock value, which Chairman Chey’s side pointed out as a "fatal error" during a press conference that day. However, the court did not change the outcome of the ruling.
According to the legal and business circles, the Family Division 2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Kim Si-cheol, Kim Ok-gon, Lee Dong-hyun) issued a decision to amend the judgment and delivered the official amended judgment to both parties on the same day.
Initially, the court calculated the value of Daehan Telecom (the predecessor of SK C&C) at 8 won per share when Chairman Chey acquired it in November 1994, 100 won per share in May 1998 just before the death of former Chairman Chey Jong-hyun, and 35,650 won per share in November 2009 when SK C&C was listed. Accordingly, the court judged that former Chairman Chey and Chairman Chey contributed to the company’s value increase by 12.5 times and 355 times, respectively, comparing the value increase from 1994 to the former chairman’s death in 1998 and from then until 2009.
Chairman Chey’s side held a press conference at the SK Seorin Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the same day, stating, "The stock price of Daehan Telecom in 1998 was not 100 won per share but 1,000 won," and criticized, "The court miscalculated the stock value, which was the main issue of the ruling, resulting in an excessively inflated calculation of Director Noh’s contribution."
In response, the court confirmed that the stock price in 1998 was 1,000 won per share, not 100 won as Chairman Chey’s side claimed, and revised the judgment accordingly. As a result, Chairman Chey’s contribution was adjusted from 355 times to 35.6 times. Meanwhile, the former chairman’s contribution increased to 125 times.
However, the appellate court judged that correcting the error did not change the ruling’s outcome and therefore did not amend the order. Regarding this, Chairman Chey’s side stated, "Since the court reversed the contributions of Chairman Chey and the former chairman based on the error, simply correcting the numbers does not resolve the issue." They added, "The court’s decision to amend acknowledges its own error, and since the calculation error was the basis for determining the scope and ratio of property division, it cannot be resolved by a simple amendment."
Chairman Chey’s side believes that the appellate court’s miscalculation of the stock value of Daehan Telecom, which became the foundation of SK Inc., currently at the top of SK Group’s governance structure, and the presumption that Chairman Chey’s contribution was much greater than that of the former chairman, served as the basis for the property division calculation.
According to Supreme Court precedents, a judgment amendment is to correct or supplement clerical errors, calculation mistakes, or similar errors in the judgment’s expression without substantially changing the content of the delivered judgment. Errors in the court’s "formation of judgment" process are not subject to amendment.
Chairman Chey’s side added, "Since this is a case that requires a new substantive judgment based on the erroneous calculation, we are reviewing legal procedures to challenge the court’s simple amendment."
Regarding this, Director Noh’s legal representative argued, "That part is only a portion of the grounds for the massive increase in SK C&C’s stock value, and the fact that the stock value has significantly increased cannot be denied and does not affect the conclusion."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
