Man spitting on wife's food found guilty of 'property damage'

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By Kim Rahn

A man was found guilty for “property damage,” when he spat on food that his wife was eating.

The appellate department of the Seoul Western District Court said, Friday, that it upheld a lower court ruling that slapped a 500,000 won ($447) fine on the man, a 47-year-old lawyer.

The man, whose name was withheld, was accused of spitting on side dishes and stew that the couple was eating at home in Eunpyeong-gu, northern Seoul, at around 11:30 a.m. on April 28 last year.

He did so out of anger, because his wife was talking on the phone during the meal. He swore at her for answering phone while they were eating and spat on the food. When she snapped at him for spitting on the food, he spat on it again.

At the hearing, he insisted that the side dishes and stew belonged to him as well, and thus, that he had not damaged his wife's property. But the appellate court did not accept his claim, saying, “According to the law on property damage, 'property' includes one jointly belonging to the perpetrator and the victim. It was clear that he was not the sole owner of the food.”

The lawyer also allegedly pushed his wife multiple times earlier in the morning on that day, while he asked her where she had been and tried to take her car keys away from her to check the black box of her car. Also on May 8, as he watched her talking over the phone in the car in the parking lot of their apartment, he allegedly yelled at her, pounded on the car door and threw a water bottle at the vehicle.

But the indictment over those violent acts was dismissed during the lower court trial, as the wife said she did not want him to be punished for them.