On Thursday, the Seoul High Court ordered Chey to pay 1.38 trillion won ($1.09 billion) in property division and 2 billion won in alimony to his estranged wife, Roh Soh-yeong, in the biggest divorce settlement in the country's history.
The amount 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 first ruling regarded Chey's shares in SK Inc., the group's holding company, as his personal property and excluded them from the division. The appellate court overturned the decision, recognizing Roh's contribution and deeming the shares as property subject to division.
Chey's legal team said they will appeal the ruling.
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 ruling is confirmed by the Supreme Court, experts suggest, Chey might take out loans using his shares as collateral rather than selling them, which could weaken his control over the nation's second-largest business group.
"It will be challenging to secure over 1 trillion won in cash, so using SK Inc. shares as collateral for loans is a viable option. It will be difficult to sell the shares if Chey wants to maintain the group's governance structure," Park Ju-geun, CEO of Leaders Index, a corporate research institute, was quoted as saying by a news report.
Analysts say the chances of a stake sale are low, especially considering the group's bitter battle against a hostile takeover attempt by Sovereign Asset Management in 2003.
"If SK Inc. shares are used for the payment, the largest shareholder could end up vulnerable to deliberate attacks from external forces," said Oh Il-sun, the director of the Korea CXO Institute, a leading corporate analysis organization.
"Selling some shares to pay the settlement may be an option, though it may somewhat affect the governance structure," he added. He noted Chey's current stake in SK Inc. is below the perceived stable control threshold of 35 percent.
The financial burden from the settlement is also expected to affect SK Group's investments and other business activities amid fierce global competition in high-capacity semiconductors.
Roh is the daughter of former President Roh Tae-woo. She tied the knot with Chey in September 1988 and had three children together. In December 2015, Chey disclosed that he had a child outside of their marriage. He filed for divorce in July 2017, as he was unable to reach an agreement on the terms of separation.
