A cheating husband cannot divorce his wife despite having a years-long affair, a South Korean court ruled Friday, insisting only the injured party in a marriage could initiate a legal separation.<\/p>\n
Movie director Hong Sang-soo, 58,"},"modified":"2019-06-28T18:33:16","modified_gmt":"2019-06-28T18:33:16","slug":"south-korean-court-tells-cheating-husband-he-must-stay-married","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2019\/06\/28\/south-korean-court-tells-cheating-husband-he-must-stay-married\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korean Court Tells Cheating Husband He Must Stay Married |"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A cheating husband cannot divorce his wife despite having a years-long affair, a South Korean court ruled Friday, insisting only the injured party in a marriage could initiate a legal separation.<\/p>\n
Movie director Hong Sang-soo, 58, a Cannes film festival regular, filed for divorce in 2016, shortly after his relationship with actress Kim Min-hee became public.<\/p>\n
But Hong\u2019s wife, whom he wed in 1985, refused to play along \u2014 leading to a drawn-out legal battle that has lasted for years.<\/p>\n
Seoul Family Court on Friday dismissed Hong\u2019s petition and awarded costs against him.<\/p>\n
South Korea remains a conservative society, where until 2015, anyone indulging in extramarital sex risked a two-year prison sentence.<\/p>\n
Even since decriminalisation, public disapproval of affairs remains strong.<\/p>\n
Despite her successes on the silver screen, 37-year-old Kim \u2014 who won the best actress at Germany\u2019s prestigious Berlinale in 2017 \u2014 has struggled to inspire warmth among the South Korean public.<\/p>\n
Her portrayal of an out-of-work actress reeling from an affair with a married director in Hong\u2019s \u201cOn the Beach at Night Alone\u201d appears to have been too close to real life for moviegoers.<\/p>\n
The law against adultery was originally intended to safeguard the rights of women at a time when marriage offered them some of their only legal protections.<\/p>\n
Most had no independent income, and divorce carried an enormous social stigma.<\/p>\n
In 2015, when the country\u2019s highest court reaffirmed that only the injured party could initiate a divorce, it said: \u201cgender equality had some way to go\u201d. <\/p>\n
Judges said women would be particularly vulnerable if unfaithful husbands were allowed to divorce them without any justifiable complaint.<\/p>\n
Opponents of the current divorce laws say they violate individual freedoms and trap people in unhappy marriages.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n