'Divorce of the century' heads back to Supreme Court, with decade-long battle possible

As SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won presses a re-appeal against the retrial ruling in his divorce case against Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, attention is also turning to whether Noh will file a cross-appeal.

According to legal circles Monday, the asset division ratio and the method used to calculate asset values are expected to be the central issues in the re-appeal of what has been dubbed the "divorce of the century."

However, some analysts note that because the Supreme Court has already ruled on the case once, few new legal questions may remain for it to address in the re-appeal.

In that scenario, the court could dismiss the re-appeal without a full hearing under a summary rejection procedure, potentially delivering a conclusion within four months.

The summary rejection procedure allows the Supreme Court to dismiss an appeal without substantive review when it finds no significant legal misinterpretation or contested issue in the lower court's ruling. The procedure cannot be applied once four months have passed from the date the appeal record is received.

Noh's side may file a cross-appeal, seeking a Supreme Court ruling on portions of the retrial decision that were unfavorable to her.

A cross-appeal allows the opposing party to contest parts of the lower court ruling that went against them once the other side has filed an appeal. The cross-appeal must be submitted before the appellant's deadline to file a statement of grounds for appeal — a 20-day window. If the original appellant withdraws the appeal, the cross-appeal automatically loses effect.

The retrial court, following the Supreme Court's earlier instructions, included Chey's shares in SK Inc. in the assets subject to division and set the total at 944 billion won ($667 million).

Share values were calculated based on April 2024, when arguments in the appellate hearing concluded, but the subsequent sharp rise in the share price was factored into the asset division ratio.

Some observers say the proceedings could be prolonged if the parties contest legal issues vigorously in the re-appeal. Particularly at issue is the retrial court's decision to reflect the significant share price surge in the asset division ratio.

Should the Supreme Court proceed to a full hearing, the process could take more than a year to reach a conclusion — as it did in the first appeal — pushing the asset division litigation past the 10-year mark.

The divorce case began in 2017 when Chey filed for divorce mediation against Noh. The first Supreme Court appeal was filed in July 2024, and the court issued its ruling roughly 15 months later, in October 2025.