On May 28, the Seoul High Court ordered Chey to pay 1.38 trillion won ($1 billion) in property division and 2 billion won in alimony to his wife, Roh Soh-yeong, in the nation’s largest-ever divorce settlement.
"An objective and clear error was found regarding the division of property," the chief of the nation's second-largest business group said during a press conference.
"I heard that it is a very critical and big error pertaining to the premise of whether the stocks are subject to division and how many should be," he said at an SK building in central Seoul. He said he would bring the case to the Supreme Court.
The amount of property division is a significant increase from a lower court's decision in December 2022, which ordered Chey to pay 66.5 billion won in property division and 100 million won in alimony.
The initial ruling treated the chairman's shares in SK Inc., the group's holding company, as his personal assets and exempted them from division. However, the appellate court reversed this decision, acknowledging Roh's contribution and classifying the shares as divisible property.
Chey refuted the appellate court’s judgment that SK Group's growth was achieved through illegal slush funds amassed by Roh's father, former President Roh Tae-woo.
"This is not true," he said. "I feel my honor, as well as the honor and pride of all members of SK Group, have been damaged and undermined. To correct this, I had no choice but to file an appeal."
Chey vowed to carry out his duty in management responsibly regardless of these rulings.
Concerns have been raised that the astronomical divorce settlement could affect Chey's grip on the group. Chey controls the group through SK Inc., which holds stakes in other subsidiaries including SK Telecom (30.57 percent), SK Innovation (36.22 percent), SK Square (30.55 percent), and SKC (40.6 percent).
If the Supreme Court upholds the ruling, experts suggest that Chey might opt to secure loans using his shares as collateral instead of selling them.
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