if all of the above applies then no wonder when a man cheats people just roll their eyes but when a woman cheats people get shocked because they’re thinking ‘oh did she just switch allegiance!’……because you know a change of heart is a change of allegiance….but of course one can always get divorced before going around giving their hearts to random people…..be you man or woman better be divorced then be a cheater!

First in response to ‘oppa’- your opinions regarding the influence of the America in Korea does come across as extremely insulting, talk about putting all your problems on someone else’s shoulder. Adultery is something that has existed and will continue to exist far into the future, regardless of American influence and contribution, yes certainly cultures have been influenced by the American media and its openness on certain family- values that offend and challenge many cultures, stemming from religious as well as political laws, but hardly did Americans promote or glorify adultery. There are many things about Korea i was glad to leave behind, (the Confucian family system that made women 3rd class citizens is one that guts me, or being asked by an adult in front of children to pick which one was the most beautiful, then to be told by said adult that i was wrong that child was very unattractive, in front of the child is something that would almost never happen western societies) but i digress.

I also think its unfair that most people are looking at the law as draconian and backwards (i admit i was shocked to hear it at first). Besides the love and mushy stuff that has become associated with it, marriage is a legally binding contract signed by 2 people and thus when one person breaks said contract, by having an affair, they do need to face the consequences. I am in no way justifying the husbands actions i personally find it ridiculous at best, but lets not acts as if its totally beyond reason.

I think its also a bit disturbing that everyone is touting divorce as the obvious choice to get out of a marriage, as though divorce is both easy and acceptable in all societies, even in the most liberal and divorce ridden countries, people look down on those who are divorced, particularly women, and I’m guessing she had an affair because a divorce wasn’t going to be an easy thing. People cheat for one reason or another, whether its against the law or not people will continue to cheat, on boyfriends/girlfriends and husbands/wives, hell even friends cheat on friends. Doesn’t mean I’m going to go to jail for it, hey at least she wasn’t living in Iran then she would have been stoned or tarred and feathered.

[...] if not hundreds of thousands of Korean men commit adultery every day. For more on that, see here, here and [...]

There was a case of a Grandfather and his brother that raped their granddaughter/niece for 7 years and the judge let them off scott free. Oh, and the judge send her back to them because she was mentally disabled and needed someone to care for her.

How about the case where a bunch of high school boys ran a prostitution ring and forced high school girls to have sex with them and their friends? Oh and they took pictures and put it on the Internet. No one took any responsibility and the parents blame the girls for ruining their sons lives. I guess they were not concern about their sons turning into rapists and pimps.

Yeah before you start blaming other countries, how about cleaning up your own backyard first?

THE ONLY REASON why she faces jail time is that she got caught with a foreigner; nevermind the fact that she also slept with a Korean man but no one cases about that. Another example on how Korea demonized Korean women with Non-Korean men.

ANYWAY I BELIEVE IN SOME JAIL TIME FOR ADULTERS. BUT IF SHE’S JUST CONFESSING SOMETHING IN THE PAST AND WASN’T CAUGHT IN THE ACT THEN I DON’T THINK SHE SHOULD BE DOING JAIL TIME… BUT THEN AGAIN KOREA SEES THIS IS SIN, JUST AS MURDER IS SIN. IF U MURDER SOMEONE AND CONFESSED LATER, YOU WOULD DO JAIL TIME FOR SURE.

I’m not Korean, so the only exposure I have to Korean culture is through movies and dramas. Of course I am NOT saying that “Korea must be like this because such-and-such drama showed such-and such.” I know better than to stereotype a culture based on something like a drama.

HOWEVER, we must all admit that media is often a reflection of a culture. American movies give foreigners a glimpse of American culture– how sex-obsessed Americans are, how much emphasis Americans put on physical appearance, how materialistic we can be, what our standards of beauty looks are, what sort of humor we prefer, our definitions of gender roles, what we think of gay/lesbian relationships, how we perceive teen pregnancy (think Juno, Jamie Lynn Spears and Sarah Palin’s daughter), etc.

American dramas/media/TV are not shy at all about including sex (even between teenagers) while Korean movies tend to be more conservative. Wouldn’t we both agree that this is a subtle reflection of both cultures? Americans are very open in general while Koreans (like most Asian countries) tend to be more conservative when it comes to sexual relationships– or at least, Asian countries frown upon one night stands and promiscuous sexual behavior more than America does.

So my statement above was simply saying that there I have observed a trend in Korean dramas, and therefore I believe there must be a motivation or cause for this trend. I could be entirely wrong– maybe Korean men are SOOO loyal that script writers are fed up with the loyalty and writing dramas about divorces, affairs, etc.

However, while I am not Korean, I can tell you that the Chinese have the same double standard for men and women. It’s fine for a man to be divorced, but if a woman is divorced, it’s like she has some evil mark on her. The Taiwanese apparently have a similar law regarding adultery, but once again, I am sure many women overlook their husband’s affairs because they cannot afford to get a divorce– for many women, they would have to find a job though it’s so hard to do once you’ve been out of the work force for several years and the only marketable skill you have is cooking and cleaning, they would be looked down upon in Asian society, etc.

Therefore, I do believe some of these Korean dramas ARE pointing out the inequalities, injustices and double standards in society by subtly addressing them through the media. In America we have movies that address issues like teenage birth and racial stereotypes, so why can’t Koreans have movies that address social issues that exist?

i know, it doesn’t teach other people. not only adultery, but in any other crimes, nobody really scared and criminals rate are still high today. but still, this law proves that the state in overall still have some moral value which, against adultery in marriage.

i dont see anything wrong with this law. in fact, i feel glad some places still at least show their stand, which completely against this moral less act. is that mean u allow every wife and husband have free sex outside? do u approve your wife/husband have an affair? me, not.

i can’t believe this! sending a woman to jail for adultery- what a waste of government resources. they should be catching rapists and loan-sharks. how about educating those kids who get into fights at school? I guess this might be the case of once of those archaic laws left unchecked. Like whoops, forgot to cancel that law. I read a wacky laws humor book before listing outdated/ridiculous laws and restrictions that the govt forget to get rid of.

as for moral decline due to american media- i can’t lay the blame on US media’s doors. I think the situation nowadays is not entirely a decline in morals and values but in increase exposure of situations that lack morals and values. suddenly our eyes are open to the follies of our fellow neighbors. cheating husbands is universal and has been happening since the dawn of time. however, in the present, there are more ways to catch a husband/wife cheating and technology to aid it (video cameras, cell phone logs, emails) and there are more options for what happens afterward. People don’t feel the need to stay with cheating spouses and turn the other way/work things out. They just get a divorce.