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A man with a rare disease has decided to file for divorce after learning that his wife disclosed his medical condition to acquaintances and subjected him to ridicule and abuse.
The story of A, a man in his 40s whose fingers grew differently from birth due to a rare disease, was featured on JTBC's "Sageunbanjang" on Monday.
A endured frequent mockery as a child and suffered deep shame and psychological distress. After multiple surgeries, he recovered to the point where the condition no longer interfered with daily life and was barely noticeable unless he brought it up himself.
A met his wife, a healthcare worker, through volunteer work at a stray dog shelter, and the two eventually married. Before the wedding, he summoned the courage to tell her about his condition. She reassured him, saying, "Why did you hide something so minor? It's not a problem at all."
Her attitude changed after the wedding. Whenever arguments escalated, she would target his physical condition with demeaning remarks, at one point calling him a "sick freak." A said he "never imagined it would become a weapon every time she got angry." The insults grew more severe with each fight, and his parents were moved to tears when they found out.
A and his wife separated after four years of marriage. He recently learned that she had revealed his condition to a group of acquaintances and subjected him to crude mockery — some of those present had known nothing of his situation. That revelation prompted him to pursue divorce.
"This is serious defamation," A said. "I cannot understand how someone who works in healthcare could have such a lack of ethics."
Attorney Park Ji-hoon, who appeared on the program, said "defamation based on true facts can still constitute a crime, and charges of insult may also apply. Setting aside criminal punishment, there appears to be no obstacle to proceeding with a divorce suit." Attorney Yang Ji-yeol added that while disclosing the information to close family members might not meet the threshold for defamation, "revealing it to general acquaintances raises a strong likelihood of defamation liability."
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