Professor Choi’s case in Divorce Attorney Shin explained

In Divorce Attorney Shin, Sung-han gets Professor Choi’s peculiar case. Getting a divorce is a matter of life and death for Professor Choi, and Sung-han must decide if he is going to represent him or not.

As a divorce attorney, Sung-han has come across different kinds of cases, but when Professor Choi comes to him with his partner, Ji-suk, and talks to him about his case, Sung-han is left speechless.

Professor Choi and Ji-suk want him to prove in court that they are having an affair in order to help him get divorced from his wife, Ji-yeon, who would rather be a widow than get a divorce.

Why does Professor Choi want a divorce?

Professor Choi has been living with Ji-suk for almost three years, and his wife is aware of that. However, he has never been as desperate to get a divorce as he is now because he has liver cancer.

A liver transplant might increase his chances of survival, and Ji-suk is ready to donate her liver, but she cannot do that. As per the laws in Korea, they must be married for her to donate her liver.

On top of that, his wife is completely healthy, which is another reason why Ji-suk cannot donate her liver to him. Ji-suk met with Ji-yeon earlier and pleaded with her to divorce Professor Choi, but since she does not care about him or their relationship, she refused.

Even though Professor Choi is sick, Ji-yeon keeps pestering him for money. She even made him take his pension early last year. Ji-suk believes that since Professor Choi has many insurances, Ji-yeon is waiting for him to die, even though she can save him.

Why does Sung-han take the case?

Sung-han is not sure if he should take this case or not, as the spouse at fault usually does not get a favorable result. Every other lawyer has told Professor Choi the same thing. Sung-han tells him that he will think about the case before making a decision.

Ji-yeon refuses to tell her 16-year-old son, Min-su, about their problems and forces him to study abroad. Ji-suk insists that Professor Choi tell his son everything, but he does not listen.

Min-su finds out about what is going on anyway, and Ji-yeon is sure that it is Ji-suk’s doing. He comes to Korea and visits Sung-han before anything else. Min-su does not think that there is a single sane person in his family and is glad that Ji-suk is willing to donate her liver.

Divorce Attorney Shin Professor Choi
Min-su meets Sung-han

He also tells Sung-han that since he is older than 15 years of age, he wants to donate his liver and needs Sung-han’s help for that. He wishes to make a deal with his parents.

He will give his liver, and they can continue living the way that they did earlier, but in exchange, he will not be sent abroad again.

Sung-han warns him that he will be subjected to extreme scrutiny if he decides to do this, but Min-su is not scared of that; he only fears the moment when he will be on the operating table, waiting for the surgery.

Both his parents are against the idea, but Min-su does not want to go abroad because of his panic disorder, which has made him collapse several times. His mother does not care about that; she only cares about their status in society and wants him to go to college.

After talking to Min-su and then Seo-jin, Sung-han realizes that his job as an attorney is to win cases, not to judge or interpret them.

Does Professor Choi get divorced?

Ji-yeon visits Ji-suk at her workplace and accuses her of donating her liver only because she wants to become a professor’s wife. Similarly, Ji-suk claims that Ji-yeon is desperate to live as a professor’s wife.

Ji-yeon believes that she has every right to stay married to Professor Choi, as she sacrificed her career for the sake of his, and he was able to become a professor only because of that. When Ji-suk calls her pathetic, the two women get into a fight.

Sung-han meets Professor Choi and tells him that to win the case, he must be ready to endure two things. He asks him to cancel his cancer insurance, as his insurance planner is his wife’s friend. When the planner will get notified about the same, she will give the news to Ji-yeon.

The second thing that he will need to endure is that he might end up with a criminal record. Sung-han wants him to record Ji-yeon’s reaction to the cancellation. There is no legal way to record calls, so he will have to do it illegally.

As expected, when Ji-yeon gets the news of Professor Choi’s insurance cancellation, she starts speaking ill of him on the phone; she is more concerned about getting the payout than his health.

Sung-han plays this recording during the divorce mediation, and it is admitted despite being illegal because Sung-han claims that Professor Choi is so desperate that he had no choice but to resort to illegal measures.

Divorce Attorney Shin Professor Choi
Sung-han plays Ji-yeon’s recorded phone call

Professor Choi wins the case and gets divorced. Ji-yeon plans to sue him for breaching the Communications Secrets Act, but he does not care because this was a do-or-die situation, as Sung-han had earlier told him.

Sung-han wins the case, but he does not feel good about it, as he cannot see these adults, who only care about themselves and not their son, improving their lives after the divorce. In the end, Min-su is seen getting a part-time job, which means he has no plans to study abroad.


Also Read: Hyeong-geun’s divorce in Divorce Attorney Shin explained

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