South Korean gaming entrepreneur Kwon Hyuk-bin, founder of Smilegate, has been ordered to transfer assets worth about 2.55 trillion won ($1.8 billion) to his former wife after a Seoul court granted their divorce on Wednesday, September 9, 2026. The ruling represents the largest publicly reported divorce asset division in South Korea and could significantly alter ownership of the privately held gaming company.
The Seoul Family Court ordered Kwon to transfer 35% of his Smilegate shareholding to his wife, identified by her surname Lee, and pay an additional 65 billion won in cash. The court valued the shares being transferred at roughly 2.49 trillion won.
The decision follows a divorce case filed by Lee in November 2022 and settles a dispute that centred on the couple’s contributions to the creation and growth of Smilegate.
The court concluded that the couple’s marriage had deteriorated beyond repair after years of conflict. It also determined that both parties bore equal responsibility for the breakdown of the relationship.
As a result, the court granted the divorce but rejected Lee’s claim for damages, according to Yonhap’s account of the ruling.
The property ruling, however, went significantly beyond the cash awards usually associated with high-profile divorce cases because a substantial portion of Kwon’s wealth is tied to his ownership of Smilegate, a private company.
The court’s order includes:
- 35% of Kwon’s Smilegate shares transferred to Lee.
- Shares valued at approximately 2.49 trillion won.
- 65 billion won to be paid in cash.
- Total asset division estimated at 2.55 trillion won.
- Lee’s share of the divided assets set at 35%, compared with 65% for Kwon.
Kwon founded Smilegate in 2002, shortly after marrying Lee. The company later became one of South Korea’s major privately owned gaming businesses.
Lee argued during the proceedings that she contributed to the company’s early development and had previously held a stake in the business. She also cited her domestic and family responsibilities over more than two decades as part of her contribution to the family’s accumulated wealth.
The court considered those factors when determining how the couple’s marital property should be divided.
Kwon had disputed Lee’s characterization of her role in Smilegate and maintained that he was the principal founder and that she did not have the management role she claimed.
The court ultimately placed the value of Kwon’s Smilegate holdings at about 7.1 trillion won, with the 35% portion awarded to Lee valued at approximately 2.49 trillion won.
The case is particularly significant because Smilegate is privately held.
Unlike shares in a listed company, private-company shares do not have a continuously observable market price. Their value therefore has to be assessed, making the court’s valuation an important component of the settlement.
Yonhap reported that the court considered it difficult for Kwon to raise the required settlement entirely through selling shares because of the limited liquidity of the privately held stock. That contributed to the decision to award part of the settlement through an in-kind transfer of shares and the remainder in cash.
The Kwon Hyuk-bin divorce ruling overtakes the previous South Korean record associated with SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and his former wife, Roh Soh-yeong.
A Seoul court had previously ordered Chey to pay Roh 944 billion won as part of their marital asset division. Chey’s case remains under appeal, with the dispute now before the country’s Supreme Court.
The two cases have attracted attention because both involve questions about how courts assess a spouse’s contribution to wealth accumulated around a major business enterprise.
However, there is an important distinction. Smilegate was established during Kwon’s marriage, while the SK dispute involves assets connected to a much older family-controlled conglomerate.
Although the case is fundamentally a private family dispute, the transfer of a 35% interest in Smilegate could have implications for the company’s ownership structure.
Kwon remains the majority holder under the ruling, with 65% of the relevant shares, but the court-ordered transfer gives Lee a substantial ownership position in one of South Korea’s prominent gaming businesses.
South Korean business media have also highlighted the potential implications for corporate governance, future fundraising and control of the privately held company.
Smilegate said following the ruling that it had no special comment on its major shareholder’s personal affairs and would continue its normal business operations, according to Yonhap.
The ruling is a first-instance decision, meaning the legal battle may not necessarily be over.
Lee’s side has expressed appreciation for the court’s decision but indicated that it was disappointed with the 35% allocation and would consider whether to appeal.
Any appeal could therefore prolong the dispute and leave the final ownership structure of the Smilegate stake unresolved.
For now, however, the ruling establishes a new benchmark for divorce-related property division in South Korea and places Kwon Hyuk-bin’s case among the country’s most consequential disputes involving private corporate wealth.
