A Seoul court on Wednesday ordered South Korean video game tycoon Kwon Hyuk-bin to pay more than 2 trillion won ($1.5 billion) in a divorce settlement, the largest asset division ever awarded in the country.
The court valued Kwon’s assets at as much as eight trillion won, local media reported. The Seoul High Court ruled in July that Roh was entitled to a cash payout worth about one-third of the couple’s marital assets, including Chey’s shares in SK, citing her role in the family and support for SK Group activities.
The Seoul Family Court granted the divorce and ordered Kwon to transfer a “35-percent stake in Smilegate, worth about 2.5 trillion won, and pay 65 billion won in cash”, the court said. A court spokesperson said the court concluded that the “marriage had broken down beyond repair after considering the circumstances behind the couple’s prolonged conflict and the prospects for reconciliation”. The court said “both sides bore equal responsibility for the breakdown of the marriage” and therefore granted the divorce but rejected Lee’s claim for damages, she added.
Kwon’s case comes after Chey, of SK Group, appealed in August a court ruling ordering him to pay $666 million to his former wife Roh.
