A court on the 16th sentenced a man in his 40s to three years and six months in prison for pouring boiling water on the face of his sleeping Thai wife, causing severe burns.
The 12th single criminal division of the Uijeongbu District Court (Judge Kim Jun-young) handed down the sentence to a man identified as A, who was indicted and detained on charges of aggravated injury for pouring water boiled in an electric kettle on the face, neck and other areas of his Thai wife in her 30s as she slept at an apartment in Howon-dong, Uijeongbu, in Dec. last year.
The court said A caused unguarded injury to the most important part for social life and judged that the likelihood of recurrence is very high, finding that the crime appears to have been committed to prevent the wife from meeting other men.
The court also noted that, regardless of whether infidelity occurred, such a brutal crime cannot be justified, addressing A's claim that the offense was committed after discovering his wife's infidelity.
It added that the victim suffered the crime while in a poor situation—temporarily staying without a marriage visa and culturally and socially isolated due to limited Korean proficiency—and imposed a sentence higher than the prosecution's recommendation. A had been sought three years in prison by prosecutors.
The victim met A in 2021 and registered the marriage in 2024, but has not received a visa due to the defendant's failure to meet requirements. A marriage immigration visa is not issued if the Korean sponsor (spouse) lacks sufficient income or if the foreign spouse's language requirements and other conditions are not met.