South Korea Decriminalizes Adultery

South Korea’s top court has abolished a law that made adultery a crime. The Constitutional Court ruled Thursday, seven to two, that the 1953 law, under which cheaters could be jailed for up to two years, was unconstitutional. “Even if adultery should be condemned as immoral, state power should not intervene in individuals’ private lives,” said presiding Justice Park Han Chul. An estimated 100,000 people have been convicted for violating South Korea’s adultery law, according to local media. The law has been reviewed four times and upheld, but the court said anyone convicted since the last review in 2008 could have their case reconsidered.