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A woman discovered her husband had been having an affair with another man after he spent months claiming he was going out each evening to take golf lessons from "an older friend." A legal expert said that regardless of the third party's gender, a violation of marital fidelity can constitute infidelity under Korean law — and that the other party may be sued for damages.

The story was shared Monday on YTN Radio's legal advice program "Attorney Jo In-seop's Consultation."

The woman, identified only as A, said she had met her husband through a matchmaking introduction and the two married and had two children together. Though the marriage appeared normal from the outside, she said her husband had subjected her to verbal abuse from early on, and the couple had ultimately been sleeping in separate rooms for years, living as a couple in name only.

Then one day her husband began going out every evening, saying an older acquaintance was teaching him golf. He even took an overnight trip with the man. When A expressed suspicion, her husband turned it back on her, calling her paranoid.

Her doubts were confirmed when she checked her husband's phone while he slept. She found records of multiple motel visits — and the person he had been meeting was not a woman, but a man.

The phone also contained photos of her husband with his arm around the man, the two making heart gestures with their hands, and a shot taken at a cozy restaurant where the man held up a letter for the camera.

The letter read: "We've finally hit 100 days together — the time I've spent with you is so precious. Let's keep growing our love from here on. Your teddy bear."

A confronted her husband, telling him anyone could see it was a love letter, and the two had a major argument. During the altercation, A assaulted her husband, who then filed a police report and sought a divorce and consolation damages.

A said her husband and the man continued to insist they were simply close friends despite the motel records, the romantic-looking photos and the letter. She asked whether, if it proved difficult to obtain consolation damages from her husband, she could hold the other man legally responsible.

Attorney Kim Mi-ru of law firm Shinsegaero, who reviewed the case, said a same-sex relationship can constitute legal infidelity in Korea.

"What the courts define as infidelity is not limited to relationships between a man and a woman," Kim said. "It encompasses any act of disloyalty to the duty of marital fidelity, regardless of whether sexual intercourse occurred."

She added that conduct which undermines a couple's shared life and causes a spouse mental suffering can constitute an unlawful act regardless of the third party's gender. "If there are records of repeated motel visits along with a letter and photos that suggest a romantic relationship, a court may well recognize this as infidelity going beyond a simple friendship," she said.

On the question of suing the third party for damages, Kim said a spouse and the other party are considered joint tortfeasors under Korean law. "Even if a wife waives consolation damages from her husband as part of a divorce settlement, that does not automatically extinguish her right to claim damages from the third party," she said.

She advised that anyone planning to pursue a separate damages claim against a third party should make sure the divorce settlement document explicitly states that "a damages claim against the third party will be pursued separately."


bbo@heraldcorp.com