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A lawyer for the plaintiff speaks to reporters after the Seoul Family Court handed down its first-instance ruling in the divorce case of Smilegate founder and chief visionary officer Kwon Hyuk-bin on Sept. 9 in Seocho-gu, Seoul. The court granted the divorce petition filed by Kwon’s spouse, surnamed Lee, and ordered Kwon to transfer 35% of his Smilegate shares to her as part of the property division. / Song Ui-ju

A court has granted a divorce petition filed by the wife of Kwon Hyuk-bin, founder and chief visionary officer of South Korean game company Smilegate and chairman of Hope Studio. Kwon was ordered to transfer assets worth about 2.55 trillion won to his wife, surnamed Lee, marking the largest property division ever awarded in a South Korean divorce case.

On Sept. 9, the Seoul Family Court’s Family Affairs Division 3, presided over by Judge Jung Dong-hyuk, granted Lee’s divorce petition against Kwon. The court said, “After reviewing the circumstances that led to the couple’s prolonged conflict and the possibility of restoring their relationship, we concluded that the marriage had broken down beyond repair.” It added that both parties were responsible for the breakdown and bore roughly equal responsibility. The court, however, rejected Lee’s claim for damages.

The court ordered Kwon to transfer 35% of his shares, worth 2.4867 trillion won, to Lee in kind and pay an additional 65 billion won in cash. The total property division exceeds the 944 billion won awarded in July in the remanded divorce case involving SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi.

Kwon married Lee in 2001, and Lee filed for divorce in November 2022. Lee reportedly sought half of the couple’s assets, arguing that she had contributed to building their wealth during their 20-year marriage, including through raising their children. Kwon, meanwhile, was reported to have argued that he was not at fault for the breakdown of the marriage and did not want a divorce.

After the ruling, Kwon’s legal team said it understood the court to have found no grounds to hold him solely responsible for the breakdown of the marriage. The team said it would review the written judgment and discuss with Kwon how to proceed.

                                                                                                        Son Seung-hyun