200902292 Kwanhyung Lee/What causes divorce?/Thursday 56

What causes divorce?

 

On February 26, 2015 the Korean constitutional court openly stated that adultery to be a violation of the Korean constitution. Since then, Korea was caught up in a heated controversy whether the decision is right ethically or morally. This situation has triggered a myriad of families and partners to be in a predicament, specifically of the causes of divorce. It is clear that individuals need to know more about the actual causes of divorce, and to prevent any situation that let oneself under a false accusation or to be better compensated by any wrongful conduct by the husband or the wife. Among the five causes of divorce that states in the Korean civil law, you should know at least three of them that may be relevant throughout your life.

             First cause of divorce is act of misconduct by the spouse. The word "misconduct" means not only adultery in a physical sense, such as sexual intercourse, but in the broad concept. It covers a spouse residing with a third person, keeping a concubine, and sexual transmission of diseases. A real example in Korea could be a happy family with three kids, but later the husband found out that he was an aspermic patient his entire life. If the husband can prove that the three kids are not from his seeds genetically, he can file a lawsuit against the wife, and be compensated with the physical and mental stress and disorder caused by that situation.  

             Another cause of divorce is the abandonment of husband or wife. It states that if there is no justifiable reason for a spouse not to fulfill their family obligations of living together, supporting or cooperating with the family, one can file a divorce to the other. Temporary suspension of a family member or any good intension in the abandonment is not included in the cause of divorce. However, any malicious intension of abandoning a member is deemed for divorce. It is hard to decide the former apart from the latter, so the judges and the jury decide it case by case. For example, there are cases that the abandonment is caused by occupational reason, medical treatment, physical abuse, and imprisonment. Hence the juries and the judge may take extra attention to the case when it comes to abandonment.

             Lastly, physical or mental abuse by the father-in-law or the mother-in-law to the spouse can be a cause of divorce. It is not very common in the western countries to have a close relationship with father-in-law or mother-in-law, but in Korea and all of the East Asian countries have a very tight but sometimes bumpy relationship with them. In Korea, there is actually a TV show that features all kinds of conflicts amongst the members of marriage. To illustrate, one show was about a mother-in-law who constantly tells the husband to buy her luxuries such as real estates, expensive car, and handbag. It was shocking to know the husband was blackmailed by the mother-in-law because of the sexual affair they had between them. The husband sued the mother-in-law in the end, and won the lawsuit. However it was tragic to see that he had come to a divorce with his wife.

             Nowadays, one out of two people divorce because of the five reasons written on the civil law of Korea, and three of them which are act of misconduct, abandonment, and abuse by father-in-law or mother-in-law seems to be a favorable choice to come up with the grounds to be separated. It seems that people take divorce without any serious responsibility. Some do say that people have the right to choose their own taste in selecting their spouse in a free country. However I don't think marriage and divorce is a game to be played with, and one should take some serious thoughts before getting into a relationship.