The nation's top court dismissed a suit filed by an unfaithful spouse seeking a divorce from his wife, officials said Friday.

Upholding a lower court's ruling, the Supreme Court ruled against the 70-year-old man, whose identity was withheld, for being responsible for the shattered marriage.

The couple tied the knot 42 years ago but has been separated since 1984, following the plaintiff's series of affairs. He started to live with his mistress in the mid-1990s.

Without any economic support from the plaintiff, his 67-year-old wife raised their three children while working and supporting her parents-in-law.

South Korea does not allow the spouse responsible for the breakdown of the marriage to file a divorce lawsuit except for some exceptional cases.

A district court, however, ruled in favor of the husband, saying enough time has passed to make it meaningless to place the blame.

An appeals court overturned the ruling and said he is still responsible for the rocky marriage and pointed out that the wife not wanting to get a divorce is not out of a retaliatory spirit.

In September, the Supreme Court started allowing more exceptions for divorce suits while maintaining the country's "fault divorce" system, in which the spouse responsible for the breakdown of the marriage is not allowed to file a divorce lawsuit.

In a 7-6 ruling, the top court said it is too premature to change the law in consideration of the country's social and economic conditions. But it expanded the scope of grounds for exceptions: when the spouse at fault is sufficiently taking care of his/her partner and children to make up for the fault and when it is meaningless to place the blame after many years. (Yonhap)