South Korean Tech Leader Chey Tae-won Must Pay $644 Million in Divorce

Chey Tae-won, 65, is the chairman of SK Group, a major tech company in South Korea.

A court in Seoul told him in 2024 to pay his ex-wife, Roh Soh-yeong, about $940 million. She is the daughter of a former president of South Korea.

This amount was over $1 billion at the time, so local media called it the 'divorce of the century'.

Chey appealed, and the Supreme Court told the high court to reconsider. This led to a lower payment of $644 million.

The settlement is not final yet because either side can take it back to the Supreme Court.

Chey Tae-won is a prominent figure in South Korea. He gives speeches and is involved in business and industry. A photo shows him speaking in the National Assembly in Seoul.

The divorce case is about how to divide the couple's assets, including Chey's share of the SK Group.

The Seoul High Court decided that Roh should get one-third of the couple's marital assets in cash.

The court said Chey's shares in the company increased a lot during the marriage because of his work.

It also said Roh helped increase the value through her work at home and with the company.

One of Chey's lawyers said he regrets the trouble this case has caused but hasn't decided if he will appeal.

Chey and Roh were married in 1988 but have lived apart for over 15 years. Chey had a child with someone else in 2015.

Chey's stake in SK hynix is now worth about $5.5 billion because the company sells important parts to AI companies like Nvidia.

Roh, 65, has three children with Chey and runs a digital art museum.

The couple was married in the presidential Blue House when Roh's father was the president of South Korea.

They have been fighting over the divorce in court since 2022, after Chey filed for divorce in 2017.

The court's original ruling mentioned a fund used by Roh's father to help SK Group grow, which could be part of the assets.

The court initially said this could count as Roh's contribution to their shared assets.

However, the Supreme Court later said this money likely came from bribes and shouldn't be counted.

There was also a question about whether the increase in SK Group's value since the couple separated should affect the asset division.

The court considered the sharp rise in the value of Chey's shares when deciding how to divide the assets.

SK Group's shares have more than tripled in value since December 2015, when Chey's affair was made public.

The Supreme Court had already ordered Chey to pay Roh 2 billion won as alimony.

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