A court in Seoul on September 9 issued a ruling forcing South Korean video game industry tycoon Kwon Hyuk-bin to spend more than 2,500 billion won (1.87 billion USD) in a divorce agreement, the largest asset division ever declared in the country, AFP reported.
The Seoul Family Court approved the divorce and requested Mr. Kwon to transfer "35% of shares in Smilegate, worth about 2,500 billion won, along with cash of 65 billion won".
The court spokesman said that the jury concluded "the marriage has broken and cannot be salvaged after considering the context of prolonged conflict between the two people and the prospect of reconciliation". The court determined that "both parties have equal responsibility for the breakdown of the marriage", therefore agreed to divorce but rejected the wife's request for compensation for damages.
Mr. Kwon founded Smilegate in 2002 and made this business one of the most successful video game companies in Korea.
According to local media, his ex-wife, surnamed Lee, filed for divorce in November 2022, requesting to receive half of her husband's shares in Smilegate Holdings, now Smilegate. She argued that she had contributed to the founding and management of the company in the early stages, as well as indirectly through housework, so she had the right to receive half of the shares.
On the contrary, Mr. Kwon was said to have refuted that Ms. Lee was not a co-founder and did not participate in the company's operations, and opposed the divorce. Local South Korean media reported that the court valued Mr. Kwon's assets at 8,000 billion won.
The figure of 2,500 billion won (1.87 billion USD) in this divorce agreement exceeds the 944 billion won in the divorce between Chairman of SK Group Chey Tae-won - a business that also owns the giant chip company SK hynix - and his ex-wife Roh Soh-yeong.
