Corporate K-drama: A billion-dollar divorce works when shaming fails

South Korea has been trying to rein in the powerful family-run conglomerates for at least a decade, with little success. But a billion-dollar divorce bill might just tip the scale. It turns one of the nation’s largest conglomerates into a possible hostile takeover target.

In a surprise ruling, the Seoul High Court told Mr Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, which churns out products from memory chips to electric vehicle batteries,

to pay 1.38 trillion won (S$1.35 billion)

by dividing common property, and another two billion won in alimony to his former wife Roh Soh-yeong, the daughter of former South Korean president Roh Tae-woo. The court said Mr Chey’s shares in holding company SK Inc should be considered as part of the couple’s joint property, overturning a 2022 ruling for a much smaller settlement. Mr Chey plans to appeal.