SEOUL, July 24 (Yonhap) -- A Seoul appellate court was set to deliver its verdict Friday on the closely watched asset division case between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and his former wife, Roh Soh-yeong, nearly a decade after divorce proceedings first began.

The Seoul High Court was scheduled to hand down the ruling at 2 p.m., following the Supreme Court's decision in October to remand the case to the appellate court while confirming the divorce.

The ruling for the high-stakes case comes nine years after Chey, the head of one of South Korea's largest conglomerates, first filed for divorce mediation in 2017.

Chey started the proceedings after admitting in 2015 to having an extramarital lover and a child with her. Chey and Roh married in 1988 and have three children together.

The subsequent courtroom battle escalated all the way to the top court before returning to the appellate court.

While the Seoul High Court had tried to mediate an agreement, the two sides failed to narrow differences, including on whether Chey's SK Inc. stocks should be included in the division.

Chey has argued that the stocks are separate property acquired through inheritance or gifts, while Roh has contended that they fall under joint property, citing her child-rearing and household contributions.

Another point of contention is the exact valuation date for Chey's stake in SK Inc., with each share valued at 160,000 (US$108) won when oral arguments at the appellate trial initially closed in April 2024.

They have since surged, trading past 800,000 won late last month before falling to the 600,000-won range this week.

In May 2024, the Seoul High Court ordered Chey to pay about 1.38 trillion won in asset division to Roh after recognizing a purported slush fund worth 30 billion won that Roh's father allegedly funneled to Chey's father as part of the younger Roh's contributions in the marriage.

The Supreme Court, however, overturned the ruling, saying that even if the alleged fund had been funneled, it could not be considered in the asset division as the fund itself appeared to have been illegal.

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr

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