Dear editor,
Regarding an April 21 article, ``Verbal Abuse Ruled as a Cause for Divorce,'' my opinion is that it was a good decision for the family and as a result will make for a better society.
There have been many cases of physical abuse, and we often take it for granted that the perpetrators have to be punished.
However, there has not been any precedent of punishment for verbal abuse. In this aspect, this case is very unique and meaningful.
It seems to be quite difficult to expect the husband to be a normal man. The husband in question has mentally hurt his wife continuously since they got married.
What makes it worse is that he has not made any effort to drop the bad habit although his wife tried to give him a chance and has waited for him to do so for a long time.
Trust and respect are the very basic elements to maintain a congenial married life. He not only broke that faith but also tortured his wife through his speech.
We cannot imagine how painful it must be to be insulted in public and in front of her son, we can only vaguely imagine it due to the common symptoms of abused women such as insomnia, the jitters, severe depression and the urge to commit suicide.
Also, he is not qualified as a father. People learn the way of developing relationships with people from their parents: for instance how to respect, how to care, and how to help others.
Therefore, children can establish good personalities and the ability to adjust to society by growing up in a healthy family, whereas they cannot learn them properly in a dysfunctional family.
Moreover, they unconsciously learn what they shouldn't, such as violence and distrust.
The husband has educated his son in the awful verbal abuse and the wrong point of view of the relationship between a husband and a wife: a husband can look down on his wife, instead of fulfilling the adequate role of a father and a husband.
I think this case will alarm many families suffering from similar problems. Since traditional Korean culture of family is patriarchal, men usually have been more masterful than women.
Based on this, there are still a lot of men who want to lord over their wives and even treat them like servants. It causes not only personal problems but also social difficulties.
As I mentioned above, children from dysfunctional families have higher tendencies to form other dysfunctional families just like their parents.
In addition, we often see serious crimes and most of them, unfortunately, are committed by people who have grown up in these families.
There is a Korean saying on teaching the importance of family, ``When a family is living a happy life, the family can achieve everything that its wants.'' I hope many people reflect on this golden rule again and make an effort to prevent these kinds of unpleasant situations.
Hwang Ju-won