In a landmark ruling, the appellate court awarded the largest amounts of alimony and property division ever recorded in South Korea in the divorce case between SK Group Chairman Tae-Won Choi and Art Center Nabi Director So-Young Noh. This decision has shifted focus to the potential impact of such a high-profile divorce on general divorce litigation across the country. The court significantly increased the financial obligations from the first ruling, ordering Chairman Choi to pay Director Noh 1,380.8 billion won for property division and an additional 2 billion won in alimony.

This ruling was based on the judgment of specific properties. Specific properties refer to assets owned before marriage or acquired during marriage that are typically not subject to asset division. However, the appellate court determined that Director Noh made substantial contributions to the formation and maintenance of these specific properties.

Regarding this ruling, Attorney Ji-Soo Choi of Lin’s Wells & Management Team predicted, "The argument that specific properties should be included in the asset division may become much stronger in general divorce cases." Attorney Choi stated, "Until the first trial ruling in this case in 2022, there was a broader acceptance of contributions to the formation and maintenance of assets. Recently, there has been an increasing practical demand to substantiate the process of forming and maintaining specific properties. This ruling will likely intensify disputes over specific properties and require more concrete evidence."

Regarding alimony, Attorney Choi predicted, "Given that numerous divorce case precedents have recognized alimony in the range of 30 million to 50 million KRW, it will be challenging to quickly establish precedents awarding several hundred million KRW or more."

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Impact of the "Tae-Won Choi and So-Young Noh Ruling" on General Divorce Cases