Court rules on Smilegate CVO Kwon Hyuk-bin's divorce... Order to pay 35% of stock through property division

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Lee Young-seop = A ruling was made that the divorce of Kwon Hyuk-bin, founder of domestic game company Smilegate, chief vision officer (CVO) and chairman of Hope Studio, is valid.

On the 9th, Seoul Family Court Family Agreement Division 3 (Chief Judge Jeong Dong-hyuk) cited Lee's divorce claim against Chairman Kwon and ruled, "The defendant (Chairman Kwon) must pay 35% of Smilegate stock in kind to the plaintiff (Mr. Lee) as property division." In other words, it means payment in stocks rather than cash.

This is the first trial conclusion that came about four years after Mr. Lee filed the lawsuit in November 2022.

The court explained, "After reviewing the circumstances that led to the long-term conflict between the two parties and the possibility of restoration of the relationship, we determined that the marriage had reached an irreparable breakdown." The court explained, "The responsibility lies with both the plaintiff and the defendant, and the degree of responsibility is considered equal, so the plaintiff's divorce claim is upheld, but the alimony claim is dismissed."

The court determined that the value of Smilegate stocks held by Chairman Kwon was approximately 7.1 trillion won.

Therefore, if this ruling is confirmed, the stock value that Chairman Kwon will have to pay is estimated to be approximately 2.4 trillion won.

This is a level that breaks the all-time highest amount for property division in domestic divorce and property division litigation.

Chairman Kwon, born in 1974, graduated from the Department of Electronic Engineering at Sogang University in 1999 and married Mr. Lee in 2001. The following year, he founded Smilegate.

In 2012, he was inaugurated as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Hope Studio, a public service foundation, and was appointed CVO of Smilegate in 2020.

The couple separated in 2020, and two years later, Lee filed for divorce, claiming that Chairman Kwon had been neglectful of his family.

During the lawsuit, Mr. Lee claimed that he contributed to the management as he held a 30% stake in Smilegate in the beginning and was listed as the CEO and registered director.

Considering the fact that he has been in charge of housework for over 20 years, he requested that Chairman Kwon share half of the Smilegate shares he owns.

As a result of the court appraisal, the value of Chairman Kwon's assets was estimated at up to 8.16 trillion won.

However, Chairman Kwon maintains that he is not at fault and does not want a divorce.

It has also been argued that Mr. Lee cannot be considered a co-founder because he does not actually invest in or work for the company.

Among the property divisions in divorce proceedings of domestic conglomerates that have been disclosed to date, the 944 billion won set in the judgment of the remand trial for SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Noh So-young on July 26 is considered the largest ever.