Constitutional Court legalizes adultery

monjola sotubo

February 26, 2015 8:19 AM

The law was repealed on Thursday, February 26, and the action effectively legalizes adultery in the country.

South Korea's Constitutional Court has struck down a 60-year-old law which criminalized extra-marital sex.

The decision was taken by a nine-member bench which 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," presiding Justice Park Han-Chul said.

"Public conceptions of individuals' rights in their sexual lives have undergone changes," Park said, as he delivered the court's decision.

Under the 1953 law, adultery could only be prosecuted on complaint from an injured party, and a case could be closed immediately if the plaintiff dropped the charge.

Offenders faced a jail term of up to two years and in the past six years, about 5,500 people have been charged with adultery.

monjola sotubo