The top court found serious flaws in the lower courts' assessment of Roh's contribution to the conglomerate's growth and ruled that the amount should be recalculated.
Thursday's referral to the lower court came after the appellate court, which overturned the previous ruling in May last year, ordered Chey to pay Roh 1.38 trillion won (approximately US$970 million) in asset divisions and 20 billion won in alimony, making it the most expensive divorce case in the country’s history.
In the first trial in December 2022, Roh sought 50 percent of Chey's shares in SK Holdings, the conglomerate's parent company, but the court upheld Chey's argument that she had not contributed to his acquisition of the shares, which he inherited from his father.
The key issue in the case was whether Chey's SK shares, acquired prior to the marriage, should be considered personal property and excluded from their asset divisions. Another point of contention was whether 30 billion won of slush funds from Roh's father, the late former President Roh Tae-woo, were funneled into SK Group. The court found evidence suggesting the funds contributed to the company's transformation into the conglomerate it is today, though Chey's side argues the shares were acquired independently.
Chey is the chief of the country's second-largest conglomerate after Samsung. The couple married in September 1988 and have three children between them. In December 2015, Chey revealed that he had a child out of wedlock and later filed for divorce in July 2017 as the two failed to agree on the terms of separation.
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