The most expensive divorce case in South Korea! The SK Chairman compensates his ex-wife 944 billion KRW; his life is more dramatic than a K-drama: presidential son-in-law, imprisoned twice, AI-driven wealth...

A political and business union once hailed as the “wedding of the century” is now ending with the most expensive divorce in Korean history.

On July 24, the Seoul High Court ruled that SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won must pay his ex-wife Roh Soh-yeong 944 billion KRW in asset division, equivalent to around $643 million. Thus falls the curtain on the most costly divorce ruling in Korean judicial history.

The case dragged on for nearly a decade. From the initial 2022 ruling of $50 million, to the appeal court’s $1 billion valuation in 2024, followed by a Supreme Court remand, the amount finally landed on this number.

The issue is not just “how much”, but also whether Chey Tae-won will pay in cash, stocks, loans, or via asset liquidation—and whether this will impact his continued control over SK Group. Analysts note that, to raise the funds for compensation, Chey may face choices between taking loans or liquidating assets, but his core grip on SK Group is unlikely to be shaken in the short term.

The Wall Street Journal dubbed this the “divorce of the century,” while Bloomberg’s focus on the day of the verdict was whether the payout would be cash or shares. Foreign headlines went even further—“A real-life Korean drama: Money, romance, corruption, and betrayal intertwined.”

But back in 1988, no one could have imagined any of this.

The wedding at the Blue House marked the start of this marriage

In 1988, shortly after the closing of the Seoul Olympics, South Korea had just turned to democratic governance. President Roh Tae-woo’s daughter, Roh Soh-yeong, got married in the Blue House presidential residence. The groom was Chey Tae-won, the nephew of the SK Group founder. Then-Premier Lee Hyun-jae presided over the wedding, and Korean media called it the “wedding of the century.”

The couple met as graduate students at the University of Chicago. This marriage tied political power to a business empire—a combination that was in itself a sign of the times in 1980s Korea.

The couple had three children together, all of whom worked at SK subsidiaries after reaching adulthood.

Everything began to unravel in 2015.

The 2015 open letter was more than just an admission of infidelity

In December 2015, Chey Tae-won published a three-page open letter in a Korean newspaper, admitting to an extramarital affair with another woman and that he had fathered a child by her.

He quoted the opening of Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina”:

“Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

He stated that his 27-year marriage with Roh Soh-yeong could not be repaired and that he wished to “end it cleanly.”

Yet this letter came just four months after—August 2015—he had been released from prison by presidential pardon, for the second time.

Roh Soh-yeong’s reaction was widely reported by the Korean press. She questioned herself, asking those around her if she was being too selfish or inconsiderate of her husband, and later told the media:

“I will not divorce.”

She eventually agreed to divorce in 2019.

Two imprisonments, two pardons: another side of Chey Tae-won

Before the divorce case became the spotlight, Chey Tae-won had two earlier encounters with the law.

In 2003, he was sentenced to three years for illegal stock trading and accounting fraud. He was released on bail after a few months, with the court later converting his sentence to probation, and then received a presidential pardon that expunged his record. In 2013, he was convicted again for embezzling company funds—about $42 million to recoup personal investment losses—and sentenced to four years. The judge criticized him for “lacking a sincere understanding of his responsibilities.”

Chey denied the charges in court, saying the transactions in question were legitimate corporate investments. “I don’t know what more I haven’t proven, but I can honestly say I did not commit this crime.”

During his prison term, Chey accomplished two things: He consolidated control over SK Holdings through the merger of two SK subsidiaries, and he published the 229-page “New Searches: Social Enterprise” on how governments can encourage corporations to solve social problems.

In August 2015, he was pardoned a second time. Just four months later, he announced his intent to divorce in the newspapers.

In 2018, Chey and his current partner Kim Hee-young (English name Chloe, age 50) co-founded the T&C Foundation, focusing on youth scholarships and educational programs. The two made their first public appearance together in 2019. At the event, Chey said: “I reflected on my past and realized I was living the wrong life.”

The AI boom at SK hynix rewrote the price tag for the divorce

If SK hynix hadn’t gotten aboard the AI bandwagon, the sums involved in this case would likely have been on an entirely different scale.

SK hynix is a leading global supplier of HBM, the key memory hardware for training AI models. Since early 2025, SK hynix’s stock price has soared almost tenfold. By late May, the company’s valuation soared past $1 trillion. On July 10, Chey Tae-won rang the bell at Nasdaq as SK hynix debuted in the US, raising about $26 billion.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Chey Tae-won’s personal net worth stands at about $5.6 billion, more than double what it was just a year ago. Last month, he was spotted drinking whisky with Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang at a fried chicken restaurant in Seoul—Chey even offered to pick up the tab for everyone present. Previously, he met Donald Trump on a golf course, and during Biden’s 2022 visit to Korea, the US president publicly called him an “old friend.”

This surge in numbers directly changed the course of the divorce. Roh Soh-yeong argued that SK hynix’s meteoric rise was built during the maintenance phase of their marriage, so dividing at the market value at the time of divorce treated her unfairly and called for a newer valuation.

The 2022 first instance verdict awarded about $50 million; Roh appealed, claiming it “denied the value women contribute to families.” In 2024 the appeals court revised her share to 35% of assets, then worth close to $1 billion. Chey’s side contended that Roh made no contribution to SK’s recent success, and that the split should be based on SK’s valuation before the AI boom.

After the Supreme Court remand, on July 24, 2026, the Seoul High Court ruled for 944 billion KRW.

In what form will the payment be made?

The core question Bloomberg highlighted on the day of the verdict was: Will the payment be in cash or stock?—a point with direct implications for Chey Tae-won’s control of SK Group.

Chey directly holds 17.9% of shares in SK Corporation, the holding company for the SK Group. Bloomberg cited analysts stating that if the judgment amount is paid in cash, Chey will likely need to take on substantial debt or sell off some assets, but for now, SK Group’s overall control structure is unlikely to be destabilized.

The overlooked side: Roh Soh-yeong is more than just an “ex-wife”

Roh Soh-yeong’s identity is far more than just the central figure in the divorce case.

She operates Art Center Nabi, Korea’s first media art museum. The Center was originally within SK’s headquarters. In 2023, an SK subsidiary accused the gallery of “illegal occupation”, citing an expired lease. In June of this year, she moved the museum to a site near Seoul’s old royal palace, opening with an exhibition entitled “A Pregnant Pause.”

She has lectured at Cambridge University. Last year, when moving out of the home she’d lived in for 37 years, she posted keepsakes on social media: her wedding dress, handbags, and a childhood wedding poster her three children made for their parents—cutting out photos of the couple, pasting them onto paper suits, hearts and stars drawn around, captioned “Love Actually.”

In October 2024, Chey Tae-won and Roh Soh-yeong both attended their younger daughter’s wedding. Their daughter walked the red carpet alone. Of their three children, only one now remains working at an SK subsidiary.

This case has touched three sensitive nerves in Korean society

The logic underlying this divorce judgment mirrors several deeper divides in Korean society.

The relationship between conglomerates and the judiciary is the first sensitive issue. Chey Tae-won was jailed twice and pardoned twice by presidents. Both the 2003 illegal trading case and the 2013 embezzlement case ended with presidential pardons expunging his records. This cycle was repeatedly referenced as the divorce drama escalated.

The valuation of marriage contributions is the second controversy. Roh’s legal team presented as evidence that during SK’s 1992 acquisition of Korea’s second mobile license, the Roh Tae-woo government may have given special treatment. The then-opposition leader Kim Dae-jung openly criticized it as “a shameless act of presidential nepotism,” and there was dissent even within the ruling party. SK later returned the license.

Roh’s team also submitted a handwritten note showing that the Roh Tae-woo government had funneled 30 billion KRW (about $23 million) to SK. SK’s side denied receiving the sum. But the appeals court accepted the evidence, ruling that Roh made a “substantial contribution” to SK’s growth—a judgement that has affected the division ratio in every court decision so far.

The position of women in elite marriages is the third lens for reflection. After Chey publicly admitted his affair in 2015, Roh’s first reaction was self-reflection instead of anger—“Am I too selfish?”—a remark that sparked discussion in Korea about gender roles in marriage.

How much uncertainty remains after the verdict?

The 944 billion KRW verdict can still be appealed. But greater uncertainties may lie outside the courtroom.

SK hynix’s AI-driven rally shows no sign of abating. The company recently announced additional investment of over $250 billion in Korea for expanding production. President Lee Jae-myung called Chey and Samsung’s leader “heroes of the nation and the people.”

If SK hynix’s share price keeps rising, will Roh Soh-yeong insist on re-calculating her division based on the next valuation? If Chey has to reduce his stake to cash out, what changes will this bring to SK Group’s shareholding structure?

At the close of its report, the Wall Street Journal quoted a social media post from Roh in November last year, written as she moved out of her old house: “Now that I’m past 60, everything has become precious.”