Law criminalizing abortion struck down by court

South Korea's Constitutional Court said on Thursday a law criminalising abortion was unconstitutional, a landmark ruling that will overturn a ban on abortion that had been in place since 1953.

The court said in a statement the ban on abortion, as well as a law that made doctors who conduct abortions with a woman's consent liable to criminal charges, were both unconstitutional. However, the court said the current law would remain in effect until the end of next year. The court had previously upheld the abortion law in 2012.