Former German chancellor sued for adultery in South Korea

The former German chancellor Gerhard Schröder is being sued for adultery in South Korea.

The ex-husband of Mr Schröder’s wife, Soyeon Schröder-Kim, alleges the former chancellor had an affair with her while they were still married, which led to their divorce.

The former husband, who has not been publicly named, is suing Mr Schröder in his native South Korea, where adultery was only decriminalised in 2015 and can still be grounds for a civil lawsuit. 

He is seeking 100m won (£68,000) in compensation for the “emotional torment” he claims he suffered. 

The 75-year-old Mr Schröder, who was German chancellor from 1998 to 2005, reportedly received legal notification of the case a few days ago.

Mrs Schröder-Kim has denied the allegations. She claims her marriage to her ex-husband had already failed and they were separated when she and Mr Schröder met.

The former chancellor has long featured on the gossip pages of German newspapers for his multiple marriages. He used to be known as “Audi man” because the carmaker’s logo features four rings.

Mrs Schröder-Kim is his fifth wife. At 51, she is 24 years his junior and there was controversy over the age gap when they wed last year, but the couple appear to be happily married.

They met in 2015 at a business conference in Seoul where Mrs Schröder-Kim, who studied in Germany, was working as an interpreter. She subsequently translated the Korean edition of Mr Schröder’s autobiography.

“If a marriage that was entered into at a young age, as mine was, is broken and ends in divorce, the reason, in my opinion, lies with the two spouses,” Mrs Schröder-Kim said in a statement on her ex-husband’s allegations last year. 

“This is especially true when both spouses have lived separately for a long time. That was the case in my marriage. Therefore one should not blame third parties for the failure of a marriage… Mr Schröder is not responsible for the failure of my marriage.”

The case against Mr Schröder hinges on South Korea’s unusual marriage laws. Adultery was illegal in the country and could be punished with up to two years in prison until 2015. An estimated 53,000 South Koreans were charged under the law. 

Mr Schröder is thought unlikely to travel to South Korea to answer the case.

Mr Schröder’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

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