(2nd LD) Constitutional Court upholds controversial adultery law

(ATTN: RECASTS lead; ADDS background; UPDATES throughout; CORRECTS man actress
admitted to affair with in para 5)
SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean Constitutional Court ruled by a
narrow margin in favor of the country's decades-old anti-adultery law that
punishes extramarital affairs, striking down a suit by a star actress who says
the law infringes on individual freedom.
The ruling is the fourth time in the country's history that the court has backed
the law, under which nearly 1,200 people are indicted annually and subject to up
to two years in prison.
The decision, which came despite opposition from five of the nine judges on the
court, requires a two-thirds majority, or six of the nine judges on the panel, to
rule a law unconstitutional.
The ruling also came nearly nine months after Ok So-ri, the former wife of a
popular entertainer, filed a complaint that the 55-year-old law violates
individuals' rights to sexual privacy.
Ok, who divorced Park Chul in September, admitted to an extramarital affair with
a pop singer last year, prompting Park to sue her. Park said he had sufficient
evidence to prove that Ok also engaged in adultery with an Italian chef,
demanding her punishment under the anti-adultery law.
The widely-publicized scandal has since erupted into a fresh controversy over the
law, which supporters say serves as a shield against infidelity, while opponents
dismiss as an anachronism in a country with an increasing divorce rate.
About 1,200 people have been indicted annually on charges of adultery in the last
three years, with only a tiny portion of them actually being put behind bars.
South Korean courts have shown increasing leniency toward those convicted of
adultery, with the vast majority of them given suspended sentences. Women's
rights groups have also withdrawn their support for the law over the years, as a
growing number of wives have been accused of adultery.
The last time the Constitution Court supported the anti-adultery law was in 2001.
South Korea is one of only a handful of countries in the world that retain a law
against extramarital affairs.