Lying for Sex Now Legal in South Korea

Hard to believe men would actually make false promises in return for a little action, isn't it?

South Korea's Constitutional Court struck down a decades-old law Thursday that had punished men for making false promises of marriage to engage in sex with women.

The nine-member court ruled in a 6-3 verdict that the law infringed upon women's dignity and privacy and didn't reflect the current social trend on sex and individualism.

The ruling said the law treated women like "infants," and went against the government's "constitutional obligation to aim for the equality of men and women."

Despite the ruling, South Korea remains deeply conservative and is still influenced by a Confucian heritage after decades of Western influence. Last year, the Constitutional Court upheld a law against adultery, rejecting complaints the law is outdated and constitutes an invasion of privacy. Those convicted under the anti-adultery law face prison sentences of up to two years.

The law tossed out Thursday had punished South Korean men who deceived their girlfriends into having sex with up to a two-year prison term and a fine of more than $4,000. Enacted in 1953, the law only held men liable for false promises of marriage.