My Korean wife had an affair — I've read adultery isn't a crime in Korea anymore. Does it still count for anything in a divorce?

Your wife is right about the criminal law and wrong about everything else. The Constitutional Court struck down the crime of adultery in 2015; since then no one is prosecuted for it. But Korean divorce law remains a fault-based system in ways that English law is not, and adultery is the first listed ground for judicial divorce, a basis for consolation money against her, and — this is the part she has not mentioned — a basis for a separate claim against the other man. The affair matters. What decides how much it matters is the evidence and how it was obtained.

Can you divorce in Korea, and under which law

Jurisdiction under Article 56 of the Act on Private International Law (국제사법, gukje sabeop) is satisfied by your residence in Korea and her Korean nationality; Korean law applies under Article 66. Under Korean law, her adultery (부정행위, bujeong haengwi) is ground one of the six grounds for judicial divorce (재판상 이혼, jaepansang ihon) in Article 840 of the Civil Act. The term is broader than intercourse; it covers conduct that breaches marital fidelity. A ground you can prove with messages, receipts and an admission is about as strong as grounds get.

Korea's fault orientation cuts one more way: courts are reluctant to grant a divorce to the spouse principally at fault. If she files first claiming you "grew apart," her affair is your answer. If you file, her fault is your case.

One deadline: a divorce petition on the adultery ground must be filed within six months of learning of the affair and within two years of its occurrence, and is barred if you condoned it afterward. Three months in, you are inside the window; do not let it close while negotiating.

Which route: agreement, mediation, litigation

If she will agree terms, divorce by agreement (협의이혼, hyeobui ihon) or mediation (조정, jojeong) is faster and lets you record the financial terms as a court order. Her calm suggests she expects to lose little; a properly drafted claim tends to change that posture before the first mediation session.

Children, property and support

You did not mention children. On money, two distinct things.

Property division (재산분할, jaesan bunhal) under Article 839-2 covers assets acquired during the marriage in either name — the apartment, the savings — divided by contribution. Fault generally does not alter the ratio; her affair does not give you a larger share of the apartment. That is what she means by "won't get anything for it," and on this point she is roughly right.

Consolation money (위자료, wijaryo) is different: it is damages for the emotional harm caused by the spouse whose fault ended the marriage. Adultery is the paradigm case. Awards are modest by English standards but real, and they are separate from and additional to property division.

The other man

Korean law treats the third party to an affair as jointly liable with the spouse for the harm done to the marriage. You may bring a claim for consolation money against him directly, in the same proceeding or separately, and awards are made in these cases as a matter of routine. Whether to do so is a strategic and personal choice; it is not a fantasy. The claim has its own limitation period from the date you learned of the affair and his identity.

The evidence

Messages you saw on a shared device, receipts on a joint card, and her admission are usable. Evidence obtained by installing monitoring software on her phone, accessing accounts without authorization, or recording conversations you were not part of can expose you to liability under Korean law and may be excluded. If you have more than you have described, tell your lawyer how each item was obtained before any of it is filed. A clean file with three good items is worth more than a large file with one item that turns you into the defendant.

What this means for your stay in Korea

Nothing. Your E-7 is tied to your employment.

Practical insight

Foreign spouses in your position make two errors. The first is treating the affair as decisive on property when it is decisive on consolation money and on who gets the divorce; expectations set wrong lead to bad mediation. The second is the evidence — a spouse who, having found the messages, then "confirms" them with a spyware app has converted a winning fault case into a mutual-fault case with a criminal complaint attached. Stop collecting. You have enough.

If you send us what you have and how you obtained it, we can tell you what is usable and what the claims against each of them look like — by text consultation or at +82-2-522-3959.

— MEGA X Law Firm Korea, International Family Law Team