The Korea JoongAng Daily reported that on May 30, a court in Seoul (South Korea) ruled that Mr. Chey Tae-won, Chairman of SK Group, must pay 1,380 billion won (1 billion USD) in property division and 2 billion won in alimony to his wife in the divorce case.

The ruling makes the case between Chey, 64, and Roh Soh-yeong, 63, the most expensive divorce in South Korea ever. SK shares jumped 9.26 percent to nearly 158,100 won after the ruling.

The appeals court ruled in favor of Ms. Roh that her late father, former President Roh Tae-woo, contributed to the growth of SK Group by providing 34.3 billion won in slush funds to the former and current SK chairmen in the 1990s to buy a securities company and SK stocks.

The court also found that the late president used her position to "protect" the management activities of her husband's late father, former SK Group Chairman Chey Jong-hyun.

The ruling overturns a previous court decision that Chey did not have to divide the SK shares because they were inherited assets. Chey's lawyers said he would appeal the latest ruling.

Chey married Roh in September 1988 at the Blue House, about seven months after her father became president. They have two daughters and a son. The couple separated in September 2011, and Chey filed for divorce in 2015. In December 2022, the Seoul Family Court recognized the divorce and let Chey keep the majority of the shares.