Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young's 'Divorce of the Century'. Yonhap News. 

The Supreme Court's final verdict in the 'divorce of the century' lawsuit between SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won (65) and Art Center Nabi Director Noh So-young (64) is expected on the 16th.

According to legal circles on the 10th, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Seo Kyung-hwan) will hold the sentencing hearing for the final appeal of the divorce lawsuit between Chairman Choi and Director Noh at 10 AM on the 16th.

This comes 8 years and 3 months after Chairman Choi filed for divorce mediation in July 2017, and 1 year and 5 months after the appellate court ruled in May last year that "Chairman Choi must pay Director Noh 2 billion won in damages and 1.3808 trillion won in property division."

Chairman Choi and Director Noh married in September 1988 and had three children, but their marriage broke down. In 2015, Chairman Choi revealed the existence of an extramarital child through the media, stating, "Director Noh and I have been estranged for over 10 years."

Chairman Choi filed for divorce mediation for an agreed divorce against Director Noh in July 2017, but as an agreement was not reached in February 2018, formal litigation began.

Director Noh, who had opposed the divorce, filed a counterclaim in December 2019, agreeing to divorce.

The biggest issue in the trial is whether Chairman Choi's SK shares (formerly Daehan Telecom shares) should be considered 'separate property' exempt from property division. Separate property refers to property that one spouse owned before marriage, and property acquired in their own name during the marriage. The Civil Code adopts a separate property system, stipulating that separate property is managed, used, and profited from individually by each spouse and is excluded from division even in the event of divorce.

In December 2022, the first court accepted Director Noh's divorce claim and ordered Chairman Choi to pay 100 million won in damages and 66.5 billion won in cash as property division.

The Seoul High Court's Family Division 2, which handled the second trial, estimated the total assets of both parties at approximately 4 trillion won and ordered Chairman Choi to pay 35% of that, 1.3808 trillion won, to Director Noh, significantly increasing the property division amount. The court also ordered 2 billion won in damages.

The decision to include SK Corporation shares, which Chairman Choi holds, in the division, overturning the first court's judgment that they were not subject to division, led to a 20-fold increase in the division amount (66.5 billion won to 1.3 trillion won). The astronomical property division is based on the judgment that former President Roh Tae-woo and Director Noh contributed to the formation of the SK Group as it is today.

Specifically, the key issue was whether 30 billion won in slush funds from former President Roh Tae-woo flowed into SK. The second court, based on a memo and promissory notes submitted to the court by Director Noh's mother, Kim Ok-sook, concluded that 30 billion won, presumed to be slush funds from former President Roh, flowed to Chairman Choi's father, the late chairman, and became the seed money for the then-Sunkyeong (SK) Group along with his existing assets.

On the other hand, Chairman Choi's side argued that the SK shares were acquired with 280 million won gifted by his father in 1994, making them separate property not subject to division as they were not marital property.

They argued that since the shares were acquired with funds gifted by his father, they are separate property formed independently of former President Roh, and Director Noh should not receive property division solely for her cooperation or support.

They also pointed out that SK shares are clearly separate property not subject to division, and that the division amount, which increased 20-fold compared to the first trial, is a judgment that deviates significantly from established precedents.

The "30 billion won slush fund" of former President Roh Tae-woo, which surfaced in the second trial, is also a point of contention. It concerns whether the funds actually flowed into SK and if they influenced the group's growth. The second court ruled that the group grew through the inflow of slush funds, but could not specify the timing or method of the fund's transfer.

The legal community is focusing on whether the "inflow of non-existent slush funds" will be recognized, as well as the recognition of "slush fund inheritance." Separately from whether they flowed into SK, the question of whether it aligns with social justice norms and is legally permissible is a matter of interest, given that slush funds originating from bribes during the Roh Tae-woo administration have grown and led to assets in the trillions of won, resulting in their inheritance.

Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young's divorce property division (CG). Yonhap News. 

It remains to be seen what conclusion the Supreme Court, which received the case in July last year, will reach after 1 year and 3 months of deliberation.

Some speculated that given the lengthy deliberation, the case might be referred to a full bench (en banc) for a decision involving all Supreme Court justices, but it was not referred to the en banc.

While the property division amount is large, the issues surrounding separate property and joint assets themselves are not outside the scope of typical divorce cases, leading many to believe it would not be escalated to an en banc review.

However, it has been reported that the Supreme Court treated this case as a "reportable case to the en banc" and all justices reviewed it.

Unlike lower courts, which are "trials of fact" that dispute factual findings, appellate courts, which are "trials of law," have seen both sides engage in a fierce battle until the last moment, submitting evidence to support their claims, which is unusual.

This case has drawn attention not only because it is a divorce lawsuit involving the chairman of a major conglomerate with astronomical sums at stake, but also due to the caliber of the legal teams representing both parties.

Chairman Choi's side includes lawyer Hong Seung-myun (18th graduating class), a former presiding judge at the Seoul High Court and a top legal authority, having served as a senior judicial researcher and then chief judicial researcher at the Supreme Court, as well as lawyer Lee Jae-geun of Yulchon LLC. Director Noh's side is represented by former lawmaker Choi Jae-hyung, a heavyweight figure who served as a court president and then as chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection.

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