The highest court of South Korea has struck down an antiquated law concerning adultery. The 1953 law made adultery illegal in South Korea in order to protect the rights of women in what was (at the time) an extremely male-dominated society. However, in 2015 the male/female power structure of society has moved back closer to the center, and in order to allow couples to make their own decisions regarding sexuality the high court has decriminalized adultery.
As soon as the ruling came through from the high court sales of condoms saw a massive spike, as did the shares of condom companies. One such company ‘Unidus Corp’ makes latex products, mainly condoms, and their shares soared 15% by day’s end after the courts struck down the law regarding adultery.
(Reuters) – South Korea’s highest court on Thursday struck down as unconstitutional a decades-old law banning adultery, triggering a surge in shares of condom makers and morning-after pills.
The 1953 law aimed to protect women in a male-dominated society where divorce was rare, by making marital infidelity punishable with jail.
“The law is unconstitutional as it infringes people’s right to make their own decisions on sex and secrecy and freedom of their private life, violating the principle banning excessive enforcement,” said Seo Ki-seok, a Constitutional Court judge, reading an opinion on behalf of five judges.
Seven members of the nine-judge panel deemed the law to be unconstitutional.
After the ruling, shares in Unidus Corp, which makes latex products, including condoms, soared to the 15 percent daily limit gain.
Hyundai Pharmaceutical Co Ltd, a maker of morning-after birth control pills and pregnancy tests, ended up 9.7 percent after the court decision, recovering earlier losses.
Obviously condom sales would go up! If birth control pills for women were sold as an over the counter option then we’d also have seen a ridiculous spike in sales there. It’s insane that the country thought they could manage the sexual decisions and habits of married couples, but it has to be refreshing for South Korean citizens to know they can now pick and choose where they stick it.
Now hopefully the S. Korean schools provide some training on how to use the condoms, and they don’t end up using them like some of the folks stateside: