A retrial court has ruled that Roh So-yeong, 65, director of the Art Center Nabi, is entitled to one-third of the marital assets in her property division lawsuit against SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, 65. The court found that Roh had also contributed to the formation, maintenance, and appreciation of the value of Chey's SK shares.
The Seoul High Court's Family Division 1 (presiding judge Lee Sang-ju) ruled on the 24th in the property division retrial between Chey and Roh that "Chey shall pay Roh 944 billion won, plus 5 percent interest calculated from the date this ruling becomes final until the date of payment." The court considered Chey's SK shares as subject to property division. "During the marriage, the value of the shares increased significantly through Chey's management activities, and Roh's housework, child-rearing, and external activities related to SK Group contributed to this," the court explained. The court ordered each party to bear their own total litigation costs.
The property division ratio was set at one-third for Roh and two-thirds for Chey. Regarding the specific calculation of the property division ratio, the court explained that it "took into account the assets held at the time of marriage, the circumstances of acquiring the couple's joint property, the degree of each person's contribution to the formation and maintenance of joint property, and the duration of the marriage."
The court also considered that Chey's SK shares accounted for a large portion of the couple's joint property and that his managerial contribution played a role in the rise in share value. "For an equitable distribution of the couple's joint property, the court considered in calculating the property division ratio the fact that the share price of the stock held by Chey rose sharply," the court explained.
However, the court said that even if the late former President Roh Tae-woo, Roh So-yeong's father, had delivered 30 billion won in slush funds to SK, this could not be regarded as a contribution by Roh's side.
In addition, shares that Chey gifted to relatives as part of maintaining management control and management activities before the breakdown of the marriage were excluded from the assets subject to division.
Earlier, the first-instance court had set the property division ratio at 60 percent for Chey and 40 percent for Roh. The appellate court before the case was remanded adjusted the ratio to 65 percent for Chey and 35 percent for Roh, but as the assets subject to division, including SK shares, expanded, the property division amount Chey must pay Roh increased substantially.
