South Korea’s top court overturns record $1 billion divorce payout

The divorce of the century in South Korea has taken an interesting turn as the country’s Supreme Court has dismissed the lower court’s decision ordering the billionaire Chey Tae-won to pay his now ex-wife 1.38tn won in settlement.

The Supreme Court said the lower court miscalculated the couple’s asset value and ordered a reevaluation.

According to the BBC, Mr Chey, the head of the SK Group conglomerate, was married to Roh So-young, the daughter of a former president Roh Tae-woo.

The couple separated after Mr Chey admitted to fathering a child with another woman. A court in the capital Seoul finalized the divorce settlement and ordered the billionaire to pay 1.38 trillion won to his ex-wife.

It was the largest divorce settlement in the history of South Korea and local media dubbed the separation as “divorce of the century”.

The Seoul court decided that a 30bn slush fund from the former president played a significant role in the billionaire’s business empire, considering the money to be Roh So-young’s contribution in the growth of the couple’s assets.

Mr Chey appealed against the decision and the country’s top court decided that the slush fund originated from an illegal bribe received by former president and therefore cannot be considered as part of the couple’s assets.

However, the South Korea Supreme Court upheld a 2 billion won alimony payment for Ms Roh.