Seoul, Feb 26 (IANS): A South Korean court Thursday ruled that cheating in marriage should no longer be banned, reflecting a growing importance of personal choice over marital order in a traditionally group-oriented society.

Under the ruling, those indicted or convicted of adultery after Oct 30, 2008, a day after the last constitutional ruling, may ask for a suspension of indictment or a retrial, Yonhap News Agency reported.

South Korea -- next to North Korea and Taiwan -- was one of the few remaining countries in Asia that prohibit infidelity.

Extramarital affairs were banned under the criminal law since 1953. Sentences have been relatively heavy, with jail time ranging up to two years.

In Taiwan, the sentences range up to just one year in prison.

Previously, the court had turned down petitions to repeal the law a total of four times from 1990 to 2008.

In 2008, however, the judges supporting personal freedom became a majority.

Nearly 53,000 South Koreans have been indicted for adultery since 1985, with two-thirds of them being arrested.

From November 2008 to January 2015, only 0.4 percent of the 5,466 indicted were arrested.