One of the most high-profile judicial processes in South Korea once again captured international attention. He Seoul High Court ordered that Chey Tae-wonpresident of the conglomerate SK Grouppay 944 billion wonequivalent to 644 million dollarsto his ex-wife Roh Soh-yeong as part of the division of assets resulting from their divorce. The resolution represents the largest divorce settlement in the history of the country and maintains in force the case that for years has been baptized by the local press as the “divorce of the century”.

Although the figure continues to be historic, the amount is less than what an appeals court had determined in 2024, when compensation of 1.38 trillion wonaround 940 million dollars. The reduction occurred after the Supreme Court of South Korea review the case and order the recalculation of the property division, modifying some of the criteria used in the previous ruling.

Chey Tae-won is one of the most powerful businessmen in South Korea and presides SK Groupone of the most important conglomerates in the country, owner of companies such as SK Hynixmanufacturer of memories used in servers and infrastructure for Artificial intelligence and one of the main suppliers of Nvidia. Thanks to the rise of this industry, the businessman’s fortune is estimated at 5.4 billion dollarsaccording to Forbes.

For its part, Roh Soh-yeong directs the Nabi Art Center and she is the daughter of the former South Korean president Roh Tae-woo. His marriage to Chey, celebrated in 1988, was considered at the time as a union between two of the most influential families in the country, combining business power with one of the most important political dynasties in South Korea.

The couple remained married for decades until the relationship ended amid a infidelity scandal. In 2015, Chey publicly acknowledged that he was in a relationship with another woman and that he even He had a daughter out of wedlock, a situation that led to a long dispute over the division of family assets.

One of the most relevant points of the resolution is that the court determined that Chey Tae-won must make the payment in cashruling out the possibility of delivering shares of SK Inc. as part of the compensation. The judges considered that a share transfer could affect the control of the conglomerate, so they opted for monetary compensation.

Currently, the businessman owns approximately 17.9 percent of SK Inc.the group’s holding company. Various analysts consider that, to raise such a large amount, it could be forced to sell part of its assets or request financing using its shares as collateral, although not They expect him to lose control of the company.

After learning of the ruling, the markets reacted immediately. The actions of SK Inc. They closed the day with a fall close to 3.8 percentwhile the titles of SK Hynix They descended around 8.3 percentreflecting the uncertainty of investors about the way in which the businessman will cover the million-dollar obligation.

During the trial, the magistrates concluded that Roh Soh-yeong contributed to preserving and increasing family wealth during the marriage, so they recognized the right to receive approximately one third of the marital property.

The ruling also took into account the previous decision of the Supreme Courtwhich refused to include as part of the patrimonial calculation the alleged financial contribution from the former president Roh Tae-woofather of Roh Soh-yeong. The highest court considered that these resources could not be used as a legal basis to increase compensation, which is why the final figure was lower than that determined in 2024.

Despite this, the ruling maintains one of the highest payments recorded in a divorce process worldwide and represents a precedent for future litigation related to large business conglomerates in South Korea.

The divorce process has also been marked by the extraordinary growth of SK Hynixa company that became one of the largest beneficiaries of the development of the Artificial intelligence thanks to the manufacture of high-bandwidth memories used in processors Nvidia and other technology companies.

This growth significantly boosted the assets of Chey Tae-won during recent years, increasing the value of its shares and raising the potential amount of the asset division. Precisely for this reason, the judicial dispute aroused great interest among investors and financial specialistswho closely followed the impact that compensation of this magnitude could have on the business group.

Although the Seoul High Court issued a new ruling, the litigation may not yet be over. Both Chey Tae-won and Roh Soh-yeong retain the right to file a new appeal with the Supreme Courtwhich would open a new stage of the judicial process.

While this occurs, the businessman must analyze the way in which he will obtain the necessary resources to comply with a sentence that is already considered the largest divorce settlement in South Korean history. Beyond the figure, the case has become a symbol of the clash between economic power, political influence and family disputes within one of Asia’s largest fortunes.