韩国取消通奸禁令

A South Korean court has struck down a controversial, decades-old law that bans extra-marital sex.

The Constitutional Court on Thursday ruled by a vote of seven to two against the adultery ban, which was enacted in 1953.

"Even if adultery should be condemned as immoral, state power should not intervene in individual private lives," said presiding justice Park Han-Chul.

More than 5,400 people have been indicted on adultery charges in the past six years, according to official figures, though jail terms were rarely given out under the law.

The adultery ban initially was seen as an attempt to promote gender equality, since married women had few other rights. But the law became increasingly unpopular as South Korean culture rapidly modernized in recent decades.