SEOUL, June 3 (Reuters) - SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won

said it was regrettable that the history of the conglomerate's

phenomenal growth was distorted in the judgement by a court

which ruled he must pay 1.38 trillion won ($1 billion) to his

estranged wife.

The Seoul High Court ruled Chey's estranged wife, Roh

Soh-yeong, was entitled to the amount - roughly a third of the

SK leader's net holdings in the conglomerate - considering her

contribution to its growth.

Roh is a daughter of former South Korean President Roh

Tae-woo who was in office from 1988 to 1993. The court accepted

Roh's argument that her father's help contributed to SK's

growth.

"I remain unchanged in my belief that the judiciary's

judgment must be respected, but I can't help but express regret

over this ruling which denies the history of growth by SK," he

said.

SK, which began as a textile company in the 1950s, grew

rapidly from the late 1980s as it expanded into the

petrochemical and communications sectors. Chey today controls SK

Hynix, the world's second-largest memory chip maker,

and SK affiliates through his stake in SK Inc.

($1 = 1,376.5900 won)