By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter

An appellate court Tuesday cleared a 42-year-old ethnic Korean Chinese woman of charges of fake marriage. The court recognized she has, for all intents and purposes, been in an actual marriage with a Korean spouse although they had tied the knot through an agent arranging illegal marriages.

The Jilin resident met her Korean husband in February 2005 through the broker. The woman wanted to get Korean citizenship. In return for the fake marriage deal, her husband, Lee, was pledged with a free trip to China and 4 million won.

However, Lee fell in love with the Chinese woman and wanted a real marriage with her. He rejected the fee from the agent.

Back in Korea, the couple led a happy married life. Lee even regularly sent money to his wife's parents in China.

But their marriage life became the subject of a crisis when an illegal marriage agent became the subject of a police investigation.

Prosecutors indicted the two without physical detention, claiming they had long maintained the state of a bogus marriage.

The wife was the first to appear in court, which sentenced her to six months in prison, suspended for one year on the grounds that the sincerity of their marriage could not be confirmed given the fact they met through a fake marriage broker.

They appealed the case, arguing they were in love and maintained the state of a real marriage.

``We concluded that she has led a married life with her husband, based on many supporting evidences. Meeting through a fake marriage broker does not necessarily mean that the marriage was fake,'' the ruling said.

The lower court has not made any ruling on her husband. His trial is scheduled for Sept. 18.

e3dward@koreatimes.co.kr