Nearly four decades later, their marriage has ended in a 944 billion won ($642 million) property settlement shaped not only by family history and corporate succession, but also by an artificial intelligence boom that transformed the value of Chey's fortune.
The Seoul High Court on Friday largely upheld its earlier landmark ruling in what has become known as South Korea's "divorce of the century," ordering Chey to pay Roh 944 billion won after reducing the property division from the 1.38 trillion won awarded in the previous appellate decision.
The court reaffirmed that Chey's SK Inc. shares remain marital property subject to division while excluding 30 billion won linked to former President Roh Tae-woo, the ex's late father, from calculating her legal contribution, in line with last year's Supreme Court ruling.
Yet the retrial became about far more than correcting an accounting issue.
Between the original appeal and Friday's judgment, SK Inc.'s value surged alongside the global artificial intelligence rally as SK hynix emerged as one of Nvidia's most important suppliers of high-bandwidth memory chips.
The judges directly addressed that extraordinary appreciation. "The respondent's share price rose sharply after the close of arguments in the previous appellate proceedings," the court said in an explanation released after the ruling.
Rather than simply updating the valuation to reflect today's much higher market price, however, the court struck a middle ground. "The increase cannot be regarded as having been unaffected by the respondent's managerial contribution," it said.
The judges concluded that allowing either spouse alone to capture gains or losses after the marriage had effectively ended would undermine the purpose of equitable property division.
"If profits or losses arising from the disposition of shares after judicial divorce are attributed only to one spouse, it would not accord with the purpose of fairly liquidating and dividing marital property," the court said.
Instead, the court kept the valuation date at the close of arguments in the original appellate proceedings but reflected the subsequent surge by adjusting the division ratio itself.
It awarded Roh one-third of the marital estate while allowing Chey to retain the remaining two-thirds.
"The substantial rise in the respondent's share price after the previous appeal is taken into account in determining the division ratio," the court wrote, adding that the appreciation also reflected "the respondent's managerial contribution."
The judges further ruled that Chey should retain ownership of his SK Inc. shares because they underpin management control of South Korea's second-largest conglomerate.
"The respondent shall continue to hold the shares, while the portion lacking in the applicant's share shall be compensated in cash."
That leaves Chey facing a cash obligation of 944 billion won plus statutory interest after the judgment becomes final.
AI turns domestic divorce into global corporate case
The litigation has attracted attention far beyond South Korea because it unfolded alongside one of the biggest wealth creations in modern semiconductor history.
SK hynix has become one of the world's largest beneficiaries of the AI boom through its dominance in high-bandwidth memory chips powering Nvidia's AI accelerators. This month the chipmaker raised about $26.5 billion through the largest U.S. equity offering ever completed by a foreign issuer. Its rise substantially increased the value of SK Inc., the holding company through which Chey controls the sprawling SK Group.
Even after Friday's reduced award, Chey still faces nearly 1 trillion won in cash payments should the ruling stand, renewing market attention on whether SK Group could accelerate asset sales, including the long-discussed disposal of silicon wafer maker SK Siltron.
A marriage that mirrored corporate Korea
Chey and Roh married in 1988, uniting one of South Korea's most influential business families with the daughter of then-President Roh Tae-woo.
Their marriage survived financial crises, corporate restructurings and Chey's imprisonment.
While behind bars following his conviction for corporate crimes, Chey cemented his control over SK's holding company through the merger of two SK affiliates, strengthening his grip over the conglomerate. During that period he also wrote a 229-page book, New Exploration, Social Enterprise, arguing that governments should create incentives encouraging companies to solve social problems.
He received his second presidential pardon in August 2015.
Later that year, he publicly announced his intention to divorce after revealing he had fathered a daughter with another woman, bringing one of South Korea's highest-profile marriages to a dramatic end.
Chey's partner, Kim Hee-young, who uses the English name Chloe, later established the T&C Foundation in 2018, a nonprofit supporting scholarships and educational programs. The couple made their first official public appearance together the following year.
At the event, Chey reflected publicly on his personal life.
"I reflected on my past and realized that I had lived my life wrongly," he said, adding that he had come to see himself as "a coldhearted businessman with zero sympathy."
Formal divorce proceedings began in 2017 after efforts to reach a settlement failed.
From $50 million to nearly $1 billion
The family court in 2022 ordered Chey to pay Roh 66.5 billion won in property division and 100 million won in alimony, concluding that much of his SK-related wealth could not be treated as jointly accumulated marital property.
Roh appealed the ruling, calling the award "a denial of women's commitment to the household."
Her persistence dramatically changed the outcome.
The Seoul High Court in 2024 increased the property award to about 1.38 trillion won and raised alimony to 2 billion won, finding that Roh's decades of child-rearing, household responsibilities and public role as the spouse of a chaebol chairman had materially contributed to the formation, maintenance and growth of the marital estate, including the value of Chey's SK Inc. holdings.
The Supreme Court later upheld the divorce and the 2 billion won alimony award but sent only the property division issue back for reconsideration, ruling that 30 billion won linked to former President Roh Tae-woo could not legally be counted as Roh's contribution to the marital estate.
Friday's judgment reduced the payment to 944 billion won, but preserved the central legal principle.
"The shares held by the respondent constitute property subject to division," the court said, finding that both spouses contributed to "the formation, maintenance and increase in value" of those assets during their marriage.
For Roh, the legal battle ultimately transformed what began as a 66.5 billion won ($50 million) award into one of the largest divorce settlements ever ordered in Asia.
Even after the retrial reduced the previous record award, she emerged entitled to nearly 1 trillion won, vindicating her long-running argument that decades devoted to supporting one of South Korea's largest business empires deserved far greater recognition than the trial court had initially granted.
"Happy Forever"
For all the attention on AI, corporate control and billion-dollar shareholdings, the case ultimately traces the unraveling of a marriage that lasted nearly four decades.
Before leaving the family home after 37 years, Roh wrote that the hardest item to pack away was not jewelry or artwork but a handmade birthday poster created by their three children. The drawing showed their parents dressed as a bride and groom beneath hearts and stars.
Written underneath were two words that, in retrospect, became the most poignant line in South Korea's biggest divorce battle:
"Happy Forever."
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