South Korea's 'Divorce of the Century': Why SK Group chairman's divorce bill fell from $940 million to $644 million

A South Korean court on Friday reduced the record divorce settlement that AI chip billionaire Chey Tae-won must pay his former wife, ordering the SK Group chairman to pay 944 billion won ($644 million) instead of the 1.38 trillion won ($940 million) awarded in 2024.

Chey, 65, heads SK Group, the parent of memory chipmaker SK hynix, a key player in South Korea's technology industry.

The original 2024 ruling by the Seoul High Court had ordered Chey to pay 1.38 trillion won to his ex-wife, Roh Soh-yeong, the daughter of former South Korean president Roh Tae-woo. At the exchange rate then, the amount exceeded $1 billion, prompting local media to label the case the "divorce of the century."


Chey appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court, which directed the High Court to reconsider parts of its decision. Following the review, the court lowered the settlement to 944 billion won ($644 million).

The ruling is not yet final, as either party can appeal again to the Supreme Court.

The long-running legal battle has centred on the valuation and division of the couple's marital assets, particularly Chey's valuable stake in SK Group.

On Friday, the Seoul High Court ruled that Roh is entitled to a cash payout equal to one-third of the couple's marital assets.

"The defendant's shareholdings increased substantially during the marriage through his management activities," the court said.

"The plaintiff contributed to that increase through homemaking, childcare and public-facing activities related to SK Group."

Chey and Roh married in 1988 but are believed to have lived apart for more than 15 years. In 2015, Chey publicly admitted to fathering a child with another woman.

Chey's stake in SK Group is now worth about $5.5 billion, helped by SK hynix's booming business supplying memory chips to AI giant Nvidia, according to regulatory filings and public data.

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

Why was the payout reduced?

The couple married at Seoul's presidential Blue House while Roh's father, Roh Tae-woo, served as South Korea's president between 1988 and 1993.

Their divorce dispute has been before the courts since 2022 after Chey filed for divorce in 2017 and mediation efforts failed.

The High Court's original 2024 ruling had cited a 30 billion won slush fund allegedly used by Roh Tae-woo to support SK Group's growth, treating it as part of Roh's contribution to the couple's shared assets.

However, in October last year, the Supreme Court overturned that reasoning, holding that the money was likely derived from illegal bribes and therefore could not be considered in calculating marital assets.

Another issue before the court was whether the sharp rise in SK Group's value since the couple's separation—driven largely by the AI boom—should be reflected in the division of assets.

"The court took into account the sharp rise in the value of the defendant's shareholdings when determining the property division ratio," Friday's court statement said.

SK Group's shares have more than tripled in value since December 2015, when Chey disclosed his extramarital affair.

Separately, the Supreme Court had already ordered Chey to pay Roh 2 billion won in alimony.