An appeals court on Thursday ordered Samsung Group heiress Lee Boo-jin to pay 14.1 billion won ($11.76 million) in alimony to her ex-husband Im Woo-jae, a former employee at a Samsung affiliate.

The Seoul High Court ordered Lee, chief executive of Hotel Shilla, to pay Im 14.1 billion won in dividing the property held by the two, to which Lim had contributed during their years of marriage. 

In July 2017, the Seoul Family Court confirmed the couple’s divorce and ordered Lee to pay 8.6 billion won to Im. The lower court also granted custody of their only child to Lee.

The two have been battling it out in the courts since 2016, when Im, who served as an adviser at Samsung Electronics, filed an alimony suit, claiming 1.2 trillion won from Lee’s property.

The couple’s marriage in 1999 was dubbed a “Cinderella tale” by the Korean media, owing to Im’s humble background as a young rank-and-file employee compared to Lee, an heiress of the country’s largest conglomerate.

Lee is the eldest daughter of Samsung Group Chairman Lee Kun-hee and a younger sister of Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong. 


By Choi Ji-won (jwc@heraldcorp.com)