Upon first reading this article, I had to double check which Korea it was about. It may be an over-simplification, but when one thinks of how the two Koreas are different, it can be said the North is backwards and the South is more forward, like the US.
But wait – in parts of the US, adultery is still punishable by law, which leads me to ask: Should an extramarital affair be deemed criminal?
Of course not. The only time adultery should ever be considered in a legal proceeding is whilst negotiating a divorce settlement, as the adulterer did break his/her oath. Anything past that is ridiculously outdated in the western world.
Can the same be said about South Korea? I am not in a position to confidently say that revoking the Anti-Adultery Law would be ‘damaging to social order’. Taking the circumstances in which the law was originally enacted into consideration (namely that it happened in 1953 and only applied to married women), I think the main question becomes: Does South Korea consider itself a forward-oriented country?
Image source: blinkbing.blogspot.com
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Adultery = Criminal in South Korea
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I completely agree. It sincerely surprised me, when I was living in Japan, how such a forward thinking country in so many ways was way behind Canada in terms of feminism. If South Korea's law applied equally to everyone, I'd have fewer problems with it, but it's still none of the country's business what people do inside or outside of their marriages.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say "equally to everyone", do you include unmarried persons? The Anti-Adultery Law has since been expanded to include both married men and women. I believe Ok's lover was also punished.
ReplyDeleteThere has to be a funny one-liner in response to this article but I can seem to find one right now.
ReplyDeleteBut it is amazing how much governments want to get into people's bedrooms.
and... thanks for your comments! It is good to be back visiting your blog. Hope that your family is well.
@SWC - Hey! It's great seeing you back in the blogosphere!
ReplyDeleteThe witty one-liner keeps evading me as well, but here's something to think about: Can you imagine what it would be like if there was a fine for cheating (like in Michigan). Just the amount of money generated out of Hollywood would feed the whole world thrice over! LOL