Ex-German leader ordered to compensate wife's ex-husband for derailing marriage

A Seoul family court on Thursday sided with the ex-husband of Gerhard Schroeder's South Korean wife and ordered the former German chancellor to partially compensate the man for destroying his marriage.

The man, whose identity was withheld, filed a lawsuit in 2018 seeking 100 million won ($81,708) in compensation, claiming Schroeder was responsible for the destruction of his marriage with the woman, Kim So-yeon.

The Seoul Family Court on Thursday partially accepted the claim and ordered Schroeder to pay the Korean man 30 million won.

The man alleged they divorced by mutual consent in November 2017, on condition that she end her relationship with Schroeder. But Schroeder and Kim got married the following year.

The representative of the former German chancellor countered that the relationship had nothing to do with the breakup.

The ex-husband's representative cited a media interview in which Kim said there was a change in relations with Schroeder in the spring of 2017 and that she became confident in their romance in the summer of that year.

Kim earlier said she had lived separately from her ex-husband for several years before divorce.

The romantic relations between Schroeder and Kim first surfaced in September 2017 when Schroeder's ex-wife, who was in divorce proceedings with him, wrote in a social media post that Kim was one of the factors in the couple's breakup. In January the following year, Schroeder acknowledged the relationship at a press conference in Seoul. (Yonhap)