Beyond The Barrio: South Korean Actress, Ok So-Ri, Faces Jail Term For Adultery

26 November 2008, 6:00 PM. By Guanabee Staff

South Korean Actress Ok So-Ri, 39, is facing an 18-month jail term for breaking the country’s strict laws on adultery. Ms. Ok’s adultery and corresponding divorce from actor Park Chul has been news fodder in South Korea, where both are very popular.

Initially Mr. Park had sought 60% of the actress’s assets because he claimed her adultery was the reason for their failed marriage. However, a court ruled in September that Mr. Park’s gambling, drinking, and long absences from home also contributed to their marital problems. Park will still get millions of wons (literally, hundreds of dollars) from his ex-wife’s 2.4 billion won fortune ($1.6million).

Ms. Ok has fought the adultery laws, saying that they infringed on her right to “sexual self-determination and privacy” and that the jail term was inappropriate. Then everyone reminded her she lives in South Korea and she responded, “Ok, sorry.” [That was a clever pun, friends.] But seriously, the court was like, “Society still recognizes that adultery damages social order.” And then she was like,

“[This legislation] has degenerated into a means of revenge by the spouse, rather than a means of saving a marriage.”

And then the court was like,

So, yeah, she’ll probably go to jail.

According to the Korean Times, in the past three years about 1,200 people have been indicted annually for adultery, but few have been jailed. Although we agree that the law does come across more as a means of getting revenge rather than maintaining social order, if this story had been about a guy going to jail for adultery, we would’ve loved it. Personally, we would prefer to just divorce someone and carry out frivolous affairs in private, so we can’t completely sympathize with Ms. Ok for committing adultery. But her husband does sound like an a-hole, so we sympathize with her even less for giving him a reason to claim any part of her estate.

Remember folks, cheating is not only a mortal sin, it’s also a way for your drunk husband to ruin your credibility and take your money. So either don’t cheat or don’t admit to it in court.

Korean adulterer faces jail term [BBC News]

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