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September 10, 2007
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| For the fourth time, a judge in Korea has filed a petition with the Constitutional Court seeking to get the nation’s law against adultery overturned. Three times before, in 1990, 1993 and 2001, the court has ruled that the law is constitutional. Do Jin-gi, a judge at the Seoul Northern District Court, said the Constitution protects “the right to decide one’s own sexual inclination.” The judge filed the petition regarding a trial he’s handling involving a man and a woman, both in their 30s, accused of adultery by their respective spouses, from whom they were separated. “How can the authority categorize them as lawbreakers?” Do said. “Moreover, the current law doesn’t consider a love affair to be an offense if there is no sexual intercourse.” Doh said the adultery law should be abolished. “The right to pursue happiness guaranteed by the Constitution includes the right to decide whether to engage in sexual intercourse and with whom, where and when to do so,” Do said. “Transforming adultery into a criminal offense is against the Constitution.” In the last ruling in 2001, eight out of nine judges decided the adultery law was constitutional. “To maintain moral, monogamy and other obligations between the husband and wife, the law must be kept,” read that ruling. However, the ruling also suggested serious consideration should be given to abolishing the law. A proposal to revise the nation’s adultery law was submitted to the National Assembly in 2005, but is still pending. The law punishes adulterers by up to 2 years in prison, but it is rarely enforced. By Kwon Seok-cheon JoongAng Ilbo/ Hwang Young-jin Staff Writer |
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