韩国法院判令SK集团会长崔泰源向前妻支付约6.4亿美元离婚财产分割款

South Korean tech billionaire ordered to pay $640mn in ‘divorce of the century’
A South Korean court has ordered Chey Tae-won, the chair of AI chipmaker SK Hynix, to pay more than $640mn to his former wife, capping a decade-long legal battle billed in the country as the “divorce of the century”.
The Seoul High Court said on Friday that Chey should pay Won944bn ($644mn) to Roh Soh-yeong, the daughter of a former South Korean president, taking into account the significant increase in the value of the SK chair’s shareholdings.
“SK’s share price has risen sharply during the court proceedings . . . we can’t say that Chairman Chey’s managerial contributions played no role in the increase,” the court said. “We took the sharp rise in SK’s share price into account when determining the settlement in order to ensure a fair distribution of the couple’s marital assets.”
Chey’s lawyer said they would “decide whether to appeal after reviewing the ruling”. Roh’s lawyers declined to comment.
The case has gripped South Korea as Chey’s fortune has grown alongside the AI boom since he filed for divorce in 2017. SK Hynix’s valuation has soared about 2,500 per cent in the intervening years, raising questions about whether it would be factored into the decision.
The award, while well below a Won1.4tn settlement ordered two years ago, remains the largest divorce payout ever in the country. It represents roughly 12 per cent of Chey’s estimated $5.6bn fortune, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The ruling comes as Chey’s global profile has risen, with SK Hynix reporting record earnings amid a memory chip shortage. Shares in the company jumped more than sixfold in the past year as it became Nvidia’s leading supplier of high-bandwidth memory chips for AI processors.
Chey has frequently appeared alongside Nvidia’s chief executive Jensen Huang, including at a fried chicken restaurant in Seoul last month, underscoring SK Hynix’s central role in the global AI supply chain. He also rang the opening bell at SK Hynix’s Nasdaq listing this month.
Within South Korea, the divorce has drawn intense scrutiny because of the high profile of the parties involved. SK Group, which owns SK Hynix, is the country’s second-largest conglomerate, and Roh is the daughter of Roh Tae-woo, South Korea’s first democratically elected president.
The 34-year marriage began to fall apart in public in 2015 when Chey published a three-page letter in a South Korean newspaper revealing an extramarital affair that produced a child.
Two years later, he sought divorce mediation, but the couple failed to agree on how to divide their assets, triggering years of litigation. The case was dubbed the “divorce of the century” by local media.
In 2022, a lower court ordered Chey to pay Won66.5bn as a property settlement and Won100mn in alimony.
In 2024, the Seoul High Court increased the award to Won1.4tn, plus Won2bn in alimony, after finding that a Won30bn slush fund created by Roh Tae-woo had contributed to SK Group’s growth.
The Supreme Court later returned the case to the Seoul High Court, ruling that the former president’s illicit fund could not be treated as his daughter’s contribution when dividing the couple’s assets.
Roh Tae-woo, who served as president from 1988 to 1993, was convicted of bribery in 1997.
Chey, a nephew of SK Group’s founder, has argued that much of his wealth was inherited and should not be treated as marital property.
His former wife has sought about Won2tn in cash and Won3bn in alimony after initially demanding nearly half of Chey’s stake in SK Inc, the group’s holding company. Shares in SK Inc have risen about 140 per cent this year, lifting its market capitalisation to Won46tn.
Chey has led SK Group since 1998, expanding it from textiles and oil into alternative energy, semiconductors and electric vehicle batteries.
His empire spans more than 150 companies, including SK Hynix, the world’s second-largest memory-chip maker; SK Telecom, South Korea’s biggest wireless carrier; and SK Innovation, a leading energy company.