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SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong. / Yonhap News

With SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won (66) appealing again to the Supreme Court against the retrial ruling ordering him to pay 944 billion won in property division to Art Center Nabi Director Roh Soh-yeong (65), he has reportedly raised the asset split ratio as a central point of contention.

According to legal circles on the 12th, Chey's legal team submitted a statement of grounds for appeal that day to the Supreme Court, which is deliberating the re-appeal case concerning the asset division between Chey and Roh. Chey had previously filed a re-appeal in August against the retrial decision. He subsequently filed an application to narrow the scope of the appeal, stating he would not contest 700 billion won of the ruling that ordered him to pay 944 billion won in cash.

In the statement of grounds for appeal, Chey's side reportedly contested the appropriateness of the retrial court's division ratio—two-thirds for Chey and one-third for Roh—as a primary issue. Chey's counsel reportedly argued that even though the contribution of the late former President Roh Tae-woo's slush fund was not recognized, it was unfair that Roh's division ratio was merely reduced slightly. They were also reported to have raised objections to the retrial court factoring the surge in SK stock prices into the division ratio.

In July, the retrial court ruled that "Chairman Chey must pay Director Roh 944 billion won in property division, alongside an annual 5% interest calculated from the day following the finalization of the judgment until the sum is repaid in full."

The court included SK shares held by Chey among the assets subject to division and set the benchmark date for assessing the value of those shares as April 16, 2024, the closing date of hearings in the initial appellate divorce proceedings. The bench explained, "Although SK's stock price rose significantly between the close of appellate hearings and the close of retrial hearings, it cannot be deemed that Chairman Chey's managerial contributions played no role," adding, "To ensure an equitable division of joint marital property, the substantial rise in stock prices was taken into account when calculating the property division ratio."

In addition, in accordance with the spirit of the Supreme Court's ruling in October of last year, the court did not recognize the late President Roh Tae-woo's 30 billion won slush fund as a contribution on Roh's part, and excluded from divisible assets the shares Chey had gifted to relatives prior to the breakdown of the marriage as part of managerial activities and securing control of the group.

Director Roh's side has not yet filed an incidental appeal. An incidental appeal allows the responding party to contest parts of the lower court ruling unfavorable to them when the opposing party files an appeal. Roh's side has until the 13th to file an incidental appeal.

                                                                                                        Son Seung-hyun