Shares of a South Korean condom manufacturer soared on Thursday, following the high court's decision to abolish a law criminalizing adultery.

Unidus Corp, maker of latex products including condoms, saw its shares soaring 15 percent to 3,129 won ($2.82) a share at the Seoul's stock market - the maximum daily limit allowed in South Korea. 

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The move marked the best one-day percentage gain in a month for the condom company.

On Thursday, the nine-member South Korea Constitutional Court ruled that adultery is not a crime, saying the state should not intervene in people's private lives, particularly marriage and matters of the heart.

Adultery has been declared illegal by the South Korean government since 1953 and punished cheating spouses of up to two years in prison if found guilty.

The court issued its ruling about 2:00 p.m. Thursday.  An hour later, Unidus shares rose at an unexpected level.

Unidus makes about 50 million condoms a year for different countries across the globe. 

The company was established in 1973 and has remained to be the most popular condom brand in South Korea.

The law banning adultery has been challenged several times in the past. 

The most recent was in 2008, by actress Ok So-Ri, who was convicted of having an affair with her husband's friend. 

The actress argued the law was an infringement of human rights and often used by spouses to take revenge. 

But she lost in the battle, with the court saying extramarital affairs are "damaging to social order". 

More than 50,000 South Koreans have been charged of adultery since 1985, only two-thirds were arrested, many were convicted.

But in recent years the number of indictment had been steadily going down as charges were frequently dropped.

In 2014 alone, none of the 892 people accused of adultery was sentenced to prison.

The abolition of the law will give a chance to some 3,000 people convicted of adultery since 2008 to seek a retrial.

TagsCondom, Adultery