By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

Since 1953 when adultery was defined as illegal, more men than women were tried in court on infidelity charges. But it is no longer a male-dominant crime in Korea.

According to the Seoul Family Court, more than 22,800 divorce suits were filed in 2006 alone and almost half of them (11,244 cases) were caused by spouse's infidelity.

Surprisingly, the number of divorce suits caused by wife's sexual relations is on the increase.

In 1999, female infidelity-caused divorce lawsuit accounted for 36.2 percent of all divorce cases. But it marked a record high of 39.7 percent in 2006 after reaching 37.8 percent in 2002.

The Korea Legal Aid Center for Family Relations also said of a total of 526 consultations regarding divorce it received in 2006, 15.8 percent were about the extramarital affairs of wives, up from 11.3 percent a year before.

``Wife infidelity has increased in the aftermath of increasing female participation in the labor force,'' said Lee Ok-yee, chief consultant of a male-only matrimonial advice office Man Hotline. ``In the past, females disclosing their extramarital sex lives were busy making excuses about their husbands' mistakes, while recently they have actively defended themselves. This shows that women that are discontent with their husbands are ready to separate from them since they also have more economic clout.''

A 54-year-old construction business owner identified as a Cho filed a divorce suit last year against his wife identified as a Oh, 50, alleging she had an extramarital affair with an unidentified male.

Cho failed to present physical evidence proving his wife's wrongdoing, but was able to show that she was in a relationship.

The court made a ruling in favor of the male on Sunday, ordering the accused to pay 25 million won in compensation to her husband.

The court statement said: ``It is apparent that the wife in question has met someone since her husband was appointed to a provincial office, exchanging phone calls frequently.''

``It's unclear whether Oh had sexual relations with the man. But it's undeniably true that she has committed such deeds breaching the confidence between husband and wife as keeping his house key at her home,'' the ruling stated.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr