Seoul court orders Smilegate founder Kwon Hyuk-bin to transfer 35% stake worth $1.5 billion

Terms of the Seoul Family Court ruling

The Seoul Family Court ordered Smilegate founder Kwon Hyuk-bin on Wednesday, 9 September 2026, to transfer a 35% equity stake in the gaming company and pay 65 billion won in cash to his former wife, Lee Hwa-jin. The financial settlement represents the largest marital asset division ever ordered in South Korea, totaling approximately 1.5 billion dollars (1.3 billion euros). During the proceedings, the court valued Kwon's total personal assets at up to 8.016 trillion won. The entrepreneur's shares in Smilegate were appraised at approximately 7.1 trillion won, with the 35% portion designated for Lee estimated between 2.4 trillion won and 2.5 trillion won depending on court calculations cited by South Korean news agency Yonhap.

Claims and history of the four-year dispute

Kwon, born in 1974, founded Smilegate in 2002 and turned the studio into one of South Korea's most successful video game developers. The legal dispute began in November 2022 when Lee filed a formal divorce lawsuit demanding half of Kwon's total equity holdings in Smilegate Holdings, which now operates as Smilegate. Lee argued before the family court that she had contributed directly to the foundation and early administrative management of the gaming enterprise. She also contended that her domestic labor and family management over two decades constituted an essential indirect contribution to the growth of the business, justifying a 50% share of the marital estate.

Findings on fault and financial allocation

The Seoul Family Court granted the divorce petition but formally rejected Lee's claim for moral damages compensation. The panel of judges ruled that responsibility for the breakdown of the marriage rested equally on both spouses, finding neither party solely at fault for the separation. Because the court attributed equal culpability to both individuals, it declined to award punitive damages and focused entirely on the statutory division of accumulated wealth. The judges concluded that Lee's verified direct and indirect contributions warranted a 35% equity distribution from Kwon's primary corporate asset, along with the 65 billion won cash sum.

Comparison with prior South Korean settlements

The ruling against Kwon surpasses the previous benchmark for a South Korean divorce asset division, established in July 2026. In that proceeding, an appellate court ordered SK Group chairman Chey Tae-won, whose conglomerate controls semiconductor manufacturer SK Hynix, to pay 944 billion won to his former spouse, Roh Soh-yeong. The Smilegate ruling more than doubles that previous award, transferring over 2.4 trillion won in private company equity and tens of billions of won in cash. The transfer of the 35% stake reallocates substantial ownership in one of South Korea's largest unlisted gaming groups to Kwon's former spouse.