SEOUL // South Korea has abolished its adultery law after more than 60 years, ruling that the law suppresses personal freedoms.
The constitutional court on Thursday struck down the 1953 statute that criminalised extra-marital sex and jailed violators.
The nine-member bench ruled by seven to two that the law aimed at protecting traditional family values was unconstitutional.
“Even if adultery should be condemned as immoral, state power should not intervene in individuals’ private lives,” said presiding justice Park Han-chul.
The ruling could potentially affect thousands of individuals who faced adultery charges since October 31, 2008 – a day after the court previously upheld the adultery ban. Current charges could be thrown out and anyone given a guilty verdict would be eligible for a retrial, according to a court official.
Under the law having sex with a married person who is not your spouse was punishable by up to two years in prison.
Nearly 53,000 South Koreans have been indicted on adultery charges since 1985, but prison terms have been rare.
It was the fifth time South Korea’s top court had considered the constitutional legality of the law which had made it one of the few non-Muslim countries to regard marital infidelity as a criminal act.
The law was originally designed to protect the rights of women at a time when marriage gave them few legal rights, with most having no independent income and divorce carrying enormous social stigma.
But even socially conservative civic groups who had supported the legislation in the past acknowledged that times had changed.
“Adultery must be censured morally and socially, but such a law is inappropriate in a modern society,” said Ko Seon-ju, an activist with the Seoul-based civic group Healthy Families.
“It used to be an effective legal tool to protect female rights, but equal rights legislation has improved,” Ms Ko said.
“Adultery is an issue that should be dealt with through dialogue between the partners, not by law.”
While the adultery law may have been ruled out of existence, social disapproval of marital infidelity remains potent.
In April last year, South Korea blocked the newly launched Korean version of the global adultery hook-up site Ashley Madison, saying it threatened family values.
* Agencies