Adultery Now Legal in South Korea

Apparently, for South Korea, the right to pursue happiness should not hinder one from engaging in a sexual relationship with anyone, even if the person isn't one's spouse.

And that's how the country's Constitutional Court decided that adultery is not a crime.

For the past 62 years, "anyone who cheated on their spouse could be charged and, if convicted, spent up to two years in prison" in South Korea, according to CNN. "The same penalty also applied to 'the one who fornicated with the' cheating spouse."

The Wall Street Journal said that this law "was designed to provide women with legal support at a time when few were sufficiently financially independent to have the option of leaving their cheating husbands and divorce was stigmatized."

However, the Constitutional Court junked the statute that criminalized adultery as this reportedly violates South Korea's constitution.

"The precondition of human dignity and right to pursue happiness is for each individual to have their rights to choose their fate," the recent ruling said. "And the rights to choose their fate includes rights to be engaged in sex and choosing the partner."

The presiding judge, Park Han-chul, went on to say that it's "realistically impossible that all unethical acts face criminal justice."

"Women are active socially and economically, and women no longer apply as economically weaker," the judges said in a news release that summarized the ruling. "In addition, the law cannot be viewed as (exclusively) protecting women."

It is worth noting that about "53,000 South Koreans have been indicted and more than 35,000 jailed for marital infidelity since 1985, the start of electronic record keeping," as revealed by WSJ.

While seven judges signed the decision, two dissented, as decriminalizing adultery "hurts efforts to promote family in South Korea."

"Adultery and fornication go beyond a person's rights (and) intrude on other people and the community," the dissenting judges reasoned. "Considering that the relationship between husband and wife is the fundamental element of a family, the country and the society should legally protect and maintain (this) relationship."

"Statistics showing 40% of South Korean marriages since 2000 end in divorce. And between 2000 and 2006, at least, 47.1% of those divorces came about after one or more spouses cheated," CNN added.

In the wake of the legalization of adultery, shares of a condom-making company went up.

"Shares in Unidus Corp, which makes latex products, including condoms, soared to the 15 percent daily limit gain," Reuters said. "Hyundai Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, a maker of morning-after birth control pills and pregnancy tests, ended up 9.7 percent after the court decision, recovering earlier losses."

What do you think of this development?