5 of Asia’s most expensive divorces

LONDON: Weddings are expensive – and as these celebrities have realised to their detriment – divorces can be even more so, foreign media reported.

When your marriage is on the rocks, it must be even more painful to know that not only is your heart going to be split in two, but so could your fortune.

Here are some former couples in Asia who would probably be better off financially if they didn’t get married in the first place. Get this – the most expensive divorce on this list cost US$3.2 billion and created a new billionaire.

Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo.

After a 20-month whirlwind romance that took the K-drama world by storm, Song Joong-ki and Song Hye-kyo filed for divorce last year, because of “differences in their personalities”.

The couple, who met when they starred in hit 2017 drama Descendants of the Sun, would divide US$85 million worth of assets mostly in the form of luxury property, of which Song Hye-kyo, 38, holds the majority share. Besides holiday homes across the globe, the actress owns three properties valued at US$12.3 million in Samseong-dong, one of the most expensive districts in Seoul.

Du Weimin and Yuan Liping. The wife of Chinese biotech billionaire Du Weimin joined the ranks of the world’s billionaires when her wealth skyrocketed following the couple’s divorce. Yuan Liping, 49, gained half the wealth of her former husband when he transferred an even split of his company’s shares – worth US$3.2 billion – to her, making their nuptial split one of the most expensive in the world.

Chey Tae-won and Roh Soh-yeong

When Chey Tae-won, the eighth-richest man in South Korea and the chairman of conglomerate SK Group, opted for divorce, his former wife demanded US$1.2 billion from his deep pockets. The 59-year-old Chey had married Roh Soh-yeong, the daughter of a politician and art museum director, in 198.