Seoul Family Court has ordered Smilegate founder Kwon Hyuk-bin to transfer 35% of his company’s shares and 65 billion won in cash to his wife
The total property settlement is valued at about US$1.91 billion, making it South Korea’s largest publicly known domestic divorce property award
The ruling is a first-instance judgment and can be appealed, meaning the impact on Smilegate’s ownership could still change
Smilegate Founder Loses 35% Of Gaming Empire In $1.91bn Divorce Ruling
Seoul Family Court ordered Kwon Hyuk-bin to transfer 35% of his Smilegate shares and 65 billion won in cash to his wife, making it South Korea’s largest publicly known divorce property settlement.
Summary
Smilegate founder Kwon Hyuk-bin has been ordered to give his wife property worth about 2.55 trillion won about $1.91 billion, in a divorce ruling that sets a record for a domestic divorce case in South Korea.
According to state media reports, the Seoul Family Court on Wednesday granted the divorce petition filed by Kwon’s wife, identified only by her surname Lee, and ordered him to transfer 35% of his Smilegate shares to her along with 65 billion won in cash. The court valued Kwon’s Smilegate holdings at about 7.1 trillion won.
What The Court Ruled
The court said the couple’s marriage had broken down beyond repair after years of conflict and that both parties bore equal responsibility for the breakdown. It granted the divorce but rejected Lee’s claim for alimony.
The property division was set at 65% for Kwon and 35% for Lee. Since most of Kwon’s wealth is held in unlisted Smilegate shares, the court ordered the transfer of shares rather than requiring the entire settlement to be paid in cash. The shares being transferred were valued at roughly 2.4 trillion won.
Why The Shares Matter
A central issue in the case was Lee’s contribution to Smilegate’s founding and early development.
The court took into account her involvement in the company’s early management, previous ownership of shares and her contributions through household work and raising the couple’s children. Kwon had argued that Lee should not be considered a co-founder because she had neither invested capital in nor worked for the company.
The couple married in 2001, and Kwon founded Smilegate the following year. They began living separately in 2020 before Lee filed for divorce in November 2022.
A New Divorce Record
The estimated 2.55 trillion won property division exceeds the previous high-profile record involving SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won and Roh Soh-young. The Seoul Family Court ruling is the first-instance judgment in Kwon’s case, meaning it can still be appealed.
Kwon, who is Smilegate’s founder and chief visionary officer, owns Smilegate outright. The court’s order to transfer 35% of the company’s shares could therefore have implications beyond the personal divorce dispute, although its effect will depend on whether the judgment is appealed and ultimately upheld.
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For now, the Seoul Family Court’s ruling makes the Smilegate divorce case the largest publicly known domestic property-division award in South Korea.
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