The Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the spouse who caused damage to a marriage, such as by cheating, cannot file for divorce on principle.

The court upheld a lower court’s ruling that the spouse responsible for an action damaging to the relationship cannot be the one to file for divorce, following suit precedent cases.

The case was brought to court by an unidentified plaintiff, who married the defendant in 1976. He had an affair with another woman and had a child with her in 1998. The man left his marriage home in 2000, started living with the other woman and eventually filed for divorce in 2011.

Seven of the 13 sitting judges said that it was premature to introduce no-fault divorce that acknowledges a divorce requested by the person at fault.

The court explained that Korean laws already enable the spouse at fault to be able to seek divorce through a divorce settlement, the most common form of divorce in the country. In 2014, 77.7 percent of all divorce cases were finalized through settlement.

The court said that such leeway provides the spouse at fault the ability to seek divorce for the sake of his or her right to pursue happiness. Consequently, winning divorce through a no-fault system is not required.

It added that while countries that have introduced the no-fault divorce system have a set of legal tools to protect the counterpart and their offspring from facing harsh situations after divorce, Korea has yet to secure such protection. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)