Man who cut foreign wife’s hair, injured her gets suspended sentence

A man who injured his foreign wife with a weapon received a suspended sentence. gettyimagebank

A man in his 40s who cut his foreign wife’s hair and injured her with a weapon after she refused to accept his apology has been given a suspended sentence.

Judge Kim Yong-shin of the Gwangju District Court’s Criminal Division 8 sentenced the man Monday to eight months in prison with two years of probation on charges of aggravated assault.

The court also ordered him to undergo probation supervision and complete 40 hours of domestic violence treatment.

He was indicted for cutting his wife’s hair and injuring her finger with a weapon at their home in Gwangju around 7:40 p.m. on July 9.

He had been messaging another foreign woman on his phone when his wife noticed. When she refused to accept his apology, he became enraged and assaulted her.

She moved to Korea for marriage but suffered multiple instances of domestic violence from her husband. Despite this, she asked the court for leniency, saying she wanted to “give him a final chance.”

“The crime involves aggravated assault against a spouse of foreign nationality, and its circumstances and method show it is not minor," the judge said. The court added that its decision "considered the victim’s stated wish that he not be punished."

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.