S. Korea resumes hearings in SK chairman’s near-billion-dollar divorce case

SEOUL: An appeals court has resumed hearing a divorce case involving the chairman of SK Group and the daughter of a former president, reopening a dispute that has gripped South Korea at a time of scrutiny over surging wealth tied to the AI chip boom.

The case between Chey Tae-won and Roh Soh-yeong has drawn attention given the hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, its potential impact on ownership of the country’s second-biggest conglomerate after Samsung Group, and the high-profile background of the chairman’s politically connected wife.

The Seoul High Court hearing began on Friday, with neither party required to attend. The renewed proceedings follow failed mediation talks after a Supreme Court ruling that partially overturned a record award to Roh.

The settlement could have major implications for control of SK Group because the court must revisit whether Chey’s shares in holding company SK Inc should be counted as marital property.

The stakes have grown as the value of shares of SK companies has surged, helped by chipmaker SK Hynix’s emergence as a key supplier to US AI chipmaker Nvidia during a boom in demand for artificial intelligence services.

SK Hynix’s share price has risen more than fourfold over the year to date as of market close on Thursday, while SK Inc shares are up more than threefold.

In October, the Supreme Court upheld a 2 billion won alimony award but sent the property-division portion of the case back to the Seoul High Court. It said Roh could not claim contribution based on funds provided by her father that were “likely amassed by the former president from bribes” received while in office.

Roh Tae-woo was president from 1988 to 1993 and was convicted of receiving bribes in a ruling upheld in 1997.

The Seoul High Court had previously ordered Chey to pay Roh 1.38 trillion won (US$891 million). A lower court had awarded 66.5 billion won from the property portion.