South Korea's top court says no divorce rights for adulterers

The spouse who is mainly responsible for a broken marriage cannot file for divorce, the court said

SEOUL: By the narrowest of margins, South Korea's highest court on Tuesday refused to let a man divorce the wife he left for another woman 15 years ago.

South Korea's current divorce legislation bans a spouse deemed responsible for a marital breakdown from initiating divorce proceedings.

The case heard by the Supreme Court challenged that law and had been closely watched following the country's Constitutional Court decision in February to decriminalise adultery.

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Critics of the February ruling had said it would encourage infidelity and threaten the family unit -- and similar concerns had been voiced over the divorce issue.

In the end the 13-judge Supreme Court ruled seven to six against any change, reaffirming that "the spouse who is mainly responsible for a broken marriage cannot file for divorce".

The ruling noted that gender equality had some way to go in South Korea and that women would be particularly vulnerable if unfaithful husbands were allowed to divorce them without any justifiable complaint.

It also noted that a broken marriage could be legally ended if both sides agreed on a settlement -- often involving substantial financial compensation to the wronged party.

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The unidentified plaintiff in the Supreme Court case had an affair that produced a child in 1998 and had been living with the mother for the past 15 years, while still married to his wife.

His lawyers had argued that the marriage was permanently and irreconcilably broken, and that he had the right to seek a divorce even against his wife's wishes.