Visiting Paris in mid-October to promote Busan’s candidacy for the 2030 Universal Expo and for a business seminar, the president of the South Korean conglomerate SK, Chey Tae-won, warned of a ” sudden death ” of his group, if he “does not adapt to the radical changes underway”namely tensions between Americans and Chinese or artificial intelligence.
Accompanied by his partner, Kim Hee-young, also president of the T & C Foundation, he however refrained from addressing another risk hovering over his business: his divorce from Roh Soh-yeong, at the origin of low blows and a violent legal battle, widely publicized and which questions the rights of South Korean women.
The union sealed in 1988 between Mr. Chey and Mme Roh had been called “the marriage of the century”. The bride’s father was Roh Tae-woo, conservative president from 1998 to 1993. The groom’s father was Chey Jong-hyun, the chairman of the Sunkyung chaebol, one of the country’s largest conglomerates. The lovebirds met at the University of Chicago, where they studied economics.
Arriving in 1998 at the head of Sunkyung, then renamed SK Group, Tae-won made it the second largest conglomerate in the country, the South Korean leader in mobile telephony with SK Telecom and the world number two in memory chips with SK Hynix. The capital value of the empire is estimated at 153.6 trillion won (107 billion euros).
A society dominated by patriarchal values
However, in 2015, Mr. Chey confessed to his extramarital affair with Kim Hee-young. In 2017, he filed for divorce. Mme Roh initially refused, before demanding alimony of 300 million won (209,500 euros) and 42.29% of Mr. Chey’s shares in SK. In December 2022, a first judgment validated the divorce and ordered Mr. Chey to pay 66.5 billion won (46 million euros) to his ex-wife and alimony of 100 million won (69,000 euros).
The verdict was seen as intended to preserve Mr Chey’s stake in SK and therefore the integrity of the group. But it contradicts case law, which now recognizes a spouse’s “housework” as a crucial contribution to the marriage. It is also criticized in a South Korean society dominated by patriarchal values, particularly within chaebols run by powerful family dynasties close to power.
“Against jurisprudence”
“I feel like my whole life has been completely denied, since my contribution was valued at 1.2%. [de la fortune de M. Chey], while I raised three children during the thirty-four years of our marriage and helped my husband at home and elsewhere”reacted Mme Roh, who also runs the Nabi Art Center in Seoul and owns 0.01% of SK. “According to previous decisions, Mme Roh is expected to receive about 40% of Mr. Chey’s fortune. The ruling goes against the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court, which recognizes the contribution of a spouse.underlines Bae Keum-ja, lawyer specializing in family affairs.
You have 8.97% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.