A South Korean court on Friday ordered billionaire SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won to pay his ex-wife Roh So-yeong 944 billion won ($640 million) in a landmark case that national media have dubbed the "divorce of the century."

SK Group is South Korea's second-largest family-controlled conglomerate, or chaebol, with interests spanning semiconductors, energy, and telecommunications. The settlement — among the largest divorce awards in the country's history — has drawn intense public attention partly because of the questions it raises about the concentration of wealth and control within the chaebol families that dominate the national economy.

The Seoul High Court's ruling follows a Supreme Court directive earlier this year instructing the appellate court to conduct a further review of the high-profile divorce proceedings between Chey and Roh, the daughter of former South Korean President Roh Tae-woo.

The latest award to Roh — who serves as the director of a Seoul art museum — was lower than the 1.38 trillion won ($940 million) settlement previously ordered by the high court. Chey had also been ordered to pay 2 billion won ($1.3 million) in alimony.

Chey's personal wealth has grown in recent months, driven by a surge in shares of SK Hynix, SK Group's semiconductor affiliate, amid the global artificial intelligence boom. SK Hynix is a leading global manufacturer of memory chips, including high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators, and its valuation has risen sharply alongside surging demand for AI infrastructure.

The high court's earlier ruling had partially rested on its determination that Roh's father supplied SK with 30 billion won ($20.4 million) in alleged slush funds during his presidency. The Supreme Court, however, ruled that these funds could not be recognized as a legal contribution to the company's growth.

Chey and Roh married in 1988 and have three children together. Chey filed for divorce in 2017 after publicly disclosing that he was involved in a relationship with another woman and had fathered a child with her.

The case may be returned to the Supreme Court if either Chey or Roh files an appeal. Roh did not attend Friday's high court proceedings.

Chey is currently among a delegation of South Korean business leaders traveling to the United States alongside President Lee Jae Myung. The president is scheduled to meet with prominent U.S. technology executives — including Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang — in San Francisco on Friday, as part of efforts to promote investment in South Korean AI and semiconductor initiatives.