[Reporter’s Notebook] The Court That Provoked the 'Divorce of the Century' Controversy

It has been three weeks since the court ruling, but the dispute over the case is intensifying. This is about the appeal trial of the divorce lawsuit between Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi. Reading the daily statements from both sides almost gives the illusion of sitting in the courtroom and observing the trial. The confusion has deepened as even the presiding judges have stepped forward to clarify the matter.

The dispute began with a press conference held by SK Group on the 17th. Chairman Choi’s side pointed out that "an objective and critical error was found," stating that the court had calculated the value of Daehan Telecom (now SK C&C) shares in May 1998 as 100 won instead of 1,000 won. Correcting this means that the value of SK shares from 1998, when Chairman Choi became the group’s head, until 2009 increased by 35.6 times, not 355 times.

From Chairman Choi’s perspective, this is an error worthy of being called ‘critical.’ The background to the 1.3808 trillion won property division in the appeal trial was the court’s judgment recognizing Noh’s contribution because Chairman Choi’s contribution to the stock value was considered much greater than that of the late founder, Choi Jong-hyun. This is not a matter that can be resolved simply by a judgment correction (which fixes calculation or expression errors in the judgment document), but a crucial issue that determines the property division standard, according to Chairman Choi’s side.

However, the court’s response afterward was somewhat unexpected. First, the court immediately issued a judgment correction decision and amended the judgment document regarding the error raised by Chairman Choi’s side. Then, it released explanatory materials directly refuting these claims. It was quite unusual for the court to distribute explanatory materials separately about a judgment correction, but the fact that the content was controversial drew even more attention.

Initially, the court set Chairman Choi’s contribution period until 2009 during the judgment process. However, in the explanatory materials, the period was extended to April 2024. To assess Chairman Choi’s contribution to stock growth, the court argued differently from the judgment document, stating that the stock value increased 160 times (from 1,000 won to 160,000 won), not 35.6 times (from 1,000 won to 35,650 won), during his management period. Chairman Choi’s side countered, saying, "To maintain the logic of a 160-fold increase, it is necessary to clarify whether an additional decision will be made to extend the comparison period in the judgment document to 2024."

Anyone can make mistakes. However, the occurrence of errors in a court judgment that has attracted public attention and the controversy that grew during the correction process can be seen as the court undermining its own credibility. Moreover, since there were voices claiming the appeal trial judgment was somewhat biased, this error is even more painful. There were also remarks that the judgment was particularly meticulous only regarding one side’s claims.

Chairman Choi is expected to choose to appeal to the Supreme Court. The final decision will be made by the Supreme Court. This is a trial involving 1.3808 trillion won. Depending on the outcome, it could escalate into an issue that shakes the entire SK Group. As the final trial, mistakes will lead to irreversible consequences. The phrase ‘everything must be handled with caution’ has become even more poignant in this situation.