South Korea’s long-running “divorce of the century” is nearing its conclusion, with a court ordering a massive financial settlement after years of appeals.
The case has stretched on for roughly a decade and centers on AI billionaire and SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and his former wife, Roh Soh-yeong. At one stage, estimates suggested the total payout could climb to as much as $1 billion.
Before Friday’s decision, the 65-year-old was believed to be worth about $5 billion. Much of that wealth is tied to his stake in memory-chip giant SK Hynix, which has benefited from surging demand linked to the artificial intelligence boom.
On Friday, a South Korean appeals court ruled that Chey must pay Roh 944 billion won, or about $644 million, in cash as part of the divorce settlement. Reports say she had sought half of his fortune.
According to the BBC, Chey’s legal team responded to the outcome with the following statement:
“Chairman Chey Tae-won is deeply sorry in that [the divorce] proceedings so far have caused concern to many people. We will share specific response to the verdict after we closely review the ruling.”
His lawyers have not yet excluded the possibility of taking the matter to South Korea’s Supreme Court.
Roh’s lawyer did not offer a public comment.
The marriage began to unravel about a decade ago after it emerged that Chey Tae-won had fathered a child with another woman.
The revelation came nearly 30 years after the couple married in 1988. Roh Soh-yeong, the daughter of former South Korean president Roh Tae-woo, wed Chey in what was widely seen as a fairytale ceremony at the presidential Blue House. The pair later had three children together.
But the marriage was thrown into crisis when a South Korean newspaper published a three-page letter in which Chey publicly said he wanted to end their nearly three-decade union.
He also made the startling disclosure that he had fathered a child outside the marriage.
This latest hearing was the fourth major trial in the case. The first awarded Roh 50 million dollars, according to The Wall Street Journal. Later rulings pushed the value of Roh’s claim far higher before the Supreme Court sent the case back for review last year, saying some of the assets at issue had been influenced by funds that could not be legally protected.
Friday’s decision largely settles the financial dispute at the center of the divorce, although another appeal remains possible.
SK Group is one of South Korea’s biggest conglomerates, with close to 200 affiliated companies.
Alongside SK Hynix, the group’s businesses include SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest mobile network operator.
It also owns electric vehicle battery producer SK On.