SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, left, and his estranged wife Roh Soh-yeong, each attends a Seoul High Court hearing on their divorce case in Seocho District, Seoul, April 16. Yonhap
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won is urging the Supreme Court to promptly hand down rulings confirming his divorce from estranged wife Roh Soh-yeong, escalating multiple legal actions throughout this month.
These actions are viewed as part of Chey's efforts to get legal acknowledgment of their divorce independently from the ongoing 1.38 trillion won ($945.7 million) property settlement case, so that SK Group can separate a number of affiliates related to Roh before Korea's antitrust authority comes up with next year's watch list of conglomerates subject to tighter supervision.
According to sources, Chey on Monday filed for a withdrawal of the divorce suit with the Supreme Court, because their divorce was already recognized in lower court rulings, and both Chey and Roh did not appeal those decisions, though they are still engaged in a legal battle at the top court because of property settlement.
Also on Dec. 4, Chey requested the Supreme Court to issue a certification that their divorce was legally acknowledged because the divorce itself is uncontested and the ongoing legal process only focuses on property division and alimony.
Chey's legal representatives said the chairman chose to withdraw the suit to “clearly confirm” the termination of their marriage, as some legal interpretations say a divorce takes effect only after the final ruling. This means that Chey's camp believes the top court can hand down a ruling on the divorce separately before concluding the property settlement case.
Chey filed the divorce suit in February 2018, after failing to divorce by consent. Roh lodged a counterclaim in December 2019, accepting the divorce while demanding half of Chey's stake in SK Group's holding company in a property settlement.
Both district and high courts accepted Roh's counterclaim, each ordering Chey to pay money in property settlement. The Seoul High Court in May ordered Chey to pay 1.38 trillion won, a 20-fold increase compared to the 66.5 billion won previously ordered by the lower court. The chairman appealed the ruling.
Even if Chey drops his suit, Roh's counterclaim will still be under the Supreme Court review, meaning the legal battle over the property division will continue. However, it remains uncertain whether the court will confirm their divorce separately from the property settlement dispute, because the high court already dismissed Chey's previous request for a court confirmation on their divorce in June.
Chey's legal representatives said in a statement that the camp's legal actions aim to clear Chey's legal records on his family relations, because “there could be potential legal issues related to violations of the law for a person like Chey, who is recognized as a conglomerate head by the Fair Trade Act.”
Under the act, a person recognized as a conglomerate head is obliged to file with the Fair Trade Commission every year all data of affiliated companies or legal entities controlled by the same person and his family members.
If their divorce is not accepted by the Supreme Court before next year's deadline in March, SK Group has to file data of a number of legal entities related to Roh and her younger brother. Those entities include the Roh Tae-woo Foundation, which commemorates her father, the late former President Roh Tae-woo, and the East Asia Culture Center.
Those entities are now gaining attention because Roh's camp claimed in the high court trial that her father's slush funds contributed to her husband's asset accumulation, triggering allegations about funding sources of the foundations and controversies on the unethical ties between politics and corporate interests.
Roh denounced Chey's efforts for a prompt court recognition of their divorce.
Roh's legal representative said in a statement that confirming a divorce before rulings on property settlement would be "against the Constitutional spirit of protecting marriage and family life.”