President of South Korea, Park Geun-Hye
South
Korea’s Constitutional Court on Thursday struck down a controversial
adultery law which for more than 60 years had criminalised extra-marital
sex and jailed violators for up to two years.
The nine-member
bench ruled by seven to two that the 1953 statute 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
decision saw shares in the South Korean firm Unidus Corp., one of the
world’s largest condom manufacturers, soar by the daily limit of 15
percent on the local stock exchange.
It was the fifth time the
apex court had considered the constitutional legality of the legislation
which had made South Korea one of the few non-Muslim countries to
regard marital infidelity as a criminal act.
In the past six years, close to 5,500 people have been formerly arraigned on adultery charges — including nearly 900 in 2014.
But the numbers had been falling, with cases that ended in prison terms increasingly rare.
Whereas
216 people were jailed under the law in 2004, that figure had dropped
to 42 by 2008, and since then only 22 have found themselves behind bars,
according to figures from the state prosecution office.
The
downward trend was partly a reflection of changing societal trends in a
country where rapid modernisation has frequently clashed with
traditionally conservative norms.
– Public views ‘have changed’ –
“Public
conceptions of individuals’ rights in their sexual lives have undergone
changes,” Park said, as he delivered the court’s decision.
Reading
the dissenting opinion, Justice Ahn Chang-Ho insisted the 1953 statute
was a key protector of family morals, and warned that its abolition
would “spark a surge in debauchery.”
Under the law, adultery could
only be prosecuted on complaint from an injured party, and any case was
closed immediately if the plaintiff dropped the charge — a common
occurrence that often involved a financial settlement.
The debate
over its future had simmered away for years, bubbling over from time to
time especially if a public figure fell foul of the statute.
Such
was the case in 2008 when one of the country’s best-known actresses, Ok
So-Ri, was given an eight-month suspended sentence for having an
adulterous affair.
At that time, Ok unsuccessfully petitioned the
Constitutional Court, arguing that the law amounted to a violation of
her human rights in the name of revenge.
The court had previously
deliberated the issue in 1990, 1993 and 2001, but those moves to strike
down the law had failed to gain the support of the six judges required.
Ok’s 2008 petition had come close with five judges deeming the statute unconstitutional.
– Improving gender equality –
The
law was originally designed to protect the rights of women at a time
when marriage afforded 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,” Ko said.
“Adultery is an issue that should be dealt with through dialogue between the partners, not by law,” she added.
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.
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