[123RF]
[123RF]

A man who began avoiding intimacy with his wife after witnessing her give birth, then had an affair with a coworker, found himself on the defensive in divorce proceedings — after learning his wife had secretly recorded his conversations and accessed his phone to gather evidence of the affair.

The story of the man, identified as A, aired Tuesday on YTN Radio's legal advice program "Cho In-seop's Counseling Center." A said he and his wife had dated passionately for two years before marrying, and the couple had a child three years into their marriage.

"The day our child was born is still as vivid as if it were yesterday," A said, recalling how he dropped everything and rushed to the hospital.

He accompanied his wife to the delivery room, believing it would be meaningful to share the experience with her.

"Up until the moment I was waiting for the baby, I felt overwhelmed with wonder," he said. "But when it came down to it, actually watching the birth from a position close to the doctor's, I was hit by a strange feeling I couldn't put into words."

After that, he began avoiding physical intimacy with his wife and grew close to a female accounting staff member at his company, a relationship that gradually became inappropriate as the two leaned on each other.

His wife soon sensed the affair and filed for divorce.

During the proceedings, A learned to his surprise that his wife had secretly installed a recording device in his office and recorded conversations between him and the other woman.

"She listened to conversations between me and the female employee, and she secretly took my phone and went through my text messages and photos," A said. "I admit I did wrong, but isn't it also clearly illegal for my wife to secretly record my conversations and look through my phone without my consent?"

He went on to ask whether the secretly recorded audio files and phone data could be admitted as formal evidence in the divorce case, and whether — if their evidentiary value were denied — he could use his wife's illegal conduct as grounds to seek a reduction in alimony.

Attorney Kim Ji-yeon said the wife's secret recording of conversations between her husband and the other woman could constitute a violation of the Protection of Communications Secrets Act, and that accessing the husband's phone without permission could also raise legal issues. She added, however, that illegally obtained evidence is not automatically inadmissible in divorce proceedings — while recordings of conversations between third parties are difficult to use as evidence, text messages and photos retrieved from the phone could be recognized as admissible.

Kim added that while the wife's claim of infidelity could be upheld, the husband could file a criminal complaint or seek damages over the illegal recording, and such a claim could be recognized.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com