Matrimonial cache reset: Court orders SK Hynix maker to pay wife $644M in divorce settlement

Roh’s legal team declined to comment.

With SK hynix selling vital memory chips to AI computing company Nvidia, Chey’s stake is now worth roughly $5.5 billion, according to regulatory filings and public data.

Roh, 65, has three children with Chey and has built a career in the cultural sector, running a digital art museum.

A controversial history

The pair were wed at Seoul’s presidential Blue House when her father, Roh Tae-woo, led the country from 1988 to 1993.

They have battled over the split in the courts since 2022, after Chey filed for divorce in 2017 and mediation broke down.

The court’s original 2024 ruling ordering the payout to Roh cited a 30 billion won slush fund her former president father used to propel SK Group’s growth.

The court said at the time that it could be counted as her contribution towards the couple’s shared assets.

But in October, the Supreme Court quashed that argument, saying that any such cash likely stemmed from bribes and therefore should not be counted.

Another question was whether the dramatic increase in SK Group’s value since the couple’s separation, on the cusp of the AI boom, should be reflected in the asset division.

“The court took into account the sharp rise in the value of the defendant’s shareholdings when determining the property division ratio,” Friday’s court statement said.

SK Group shares have more than tripled in value since December 2015, when Chey publicly disclosed his extramarital affair.

The Supreme Court had already separately ordered Chey to make an alimony payment to Roh of 2 billion won ($1.4 million).