Court: "Director Noh's mental suffering is clear"
Co-habitant side: "Lawsuit planned for divorce proceedings"
Choi Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and his cohabitant Kim Hee-young, director of the T&C Foundation, were ordered by the court to jointly pay 2 billion KRW in alimony to Noh So-young, director of the Art Center Nabi. The court recognized Kim's responsibility in the divorce between Chairman Choi and Director Noh, drawing attention to how this will affect the appeal trial of the divorce lawsuit going forward.
Chairman Chey Tae-won of SK Group and Director Noh So-young of Art Center Nabi. Photo by Yonhap News
The Family Court of Seoul, Family Division 4 (Presiding Judge Lee Kwang-woo) ruled on the 22nd in the damages claim lawsuit filed by Director Noh against Director Kim, stating, "The defendant shall jointly pay 2 billion KRW to the plaintiff along with Chairman Choi." This refers to the alimony that Chairman Choi was ordered to pay Director Noh in the divorce appeal trial, meaning that Director Kim must also bear this responsibility together.
Director Kim's side argued that the marital relationship had already broken down and that the statute of limitations had expired, but the court did not accept these claims.
After the ruling, Bae In-gu, the legal representative for Director Kim, told reporters, "Regardless of the reasons, I sincerely apologize to Director Noh," but also said, "It seems this lawsuit was planned to give Director Noh an advantageous position in the property division lawsuit." Since the alimony claim lawsuit was filed during the divorce appeal trial, this is interpreted as an assertion that Director Noh strategically filed the lawsuit to overturn the favorable ruling for Chairman Choi in the first trial.
In the trial that day, the court judged that Director Kim was the decisive cause of the breakdown of the marriage, leading to an analysis that Director Noh now holds a favorable position in the divorce lawsuit.
A legal expert said, "The decision for the defendant and Chairman Choi to jointly bear the alimony means that the court found a causal relationship with actions that caused the breakdown of the marriage," adding, "It also reflects a high likelihood of social responsibility and moral blame."
However, in the appeal trial, the appropriateness of the property division amounting to 1.3808 trillion KRW is expected to be the main issue, and related facts will be examined separately.
Earlier, in March last year, Director Noh filed a lawsuit claiming alimony of over 3 billion KRW against Director Kim, citing "mental damages."
In 2015, Chairman Choi publicly acknowledged the existence of an extramarital child and expressed his intention to divorce Director Noh, applying for divorce mediation in July 2017. Director Noh initially refused the divorce but changed her stance two years later, filing a countersuit demanding divorce, alimony, and property division from Chairman Choi.
The first trial of the divorce lawsuit in December 2022 ruled that Director Noh did not substantially contribute to the formation, maintenance, or value increase of SK shares, effectively siding with Chairman Choi. The court ordered Chairman Choi to pay 66.5 billion KRW in property division and 100 million KRW in alimony to Director Noh.
However, the appellate court overturned this, ordering Chairman Choi to pay Director Noh 1.3808 trillion KRW in property division and 2 billion KRW in alimony. The court recognized Director Noh's "political influence" and "support and household labor" as contributing to SK's management activities and the formation and value increase of SK shares. Chairman Choi's side has appealed, and the Supreme Court is currently reviewing the case.
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