조선 후기 이혼 소송과 판결의 특징－18세기 유정기의 이이(離異) 청원 사례를 중심으로－

Abstract

By examining the process and outcome of the case of Yu Jung-gi’s petition for divorce granted by the government(離異) in the early 18th century, this article aims to shed light on the nature of divorce suits in Joseon and the characteristics of divorce judgments in late Joseon. Marital dissolution was mainly done by a husband abandoning his wife in Joseon. Yet, if a man from the upper class abandoned his wife, he was considered to have violated a spouse’s duty of loyalty and was punished and forced to reunite. Even if no punishment was imposed, the man could be disgraced and disqualified from entering government service. Therefore, people who wanted to avoid such disgrace and disadvantages by having their marriages officially recognized as dissolved by the government would petition the authority for divorce to be granted. However, it was very rare for the authority to grant a divorce petition, so husbands tended to exaggerate the faults of their wives in order to obtain a divorce. For this reason, if the government accepted a petition for divorce without being withdrawn, the case was not a civil case but a criminal case to investigate whether the wife had committed the actual “evil deed” that was pointed the reason for the divorce. The policy of not allowing divorce was kept throughout the entire Joseon era. However, whereas focused on regulating husbands who abandoned their wives and failed to uphold the loyalty of a spouse in early Joseon, paid attention to ensuring that they upheld their duties as wives in late joseon. In particular, while the principle that wives could not be made to testify to their husbands' crimes, which was common in the investigation of criminal cases in late Joseon, was applied not to investigate their husbands during the investigation of a petition for divorce, the divorce suits failed to provide a fair chance for both parties.