A provincial court Friday convicted a Korean man of raping his wife in the first such case in the nation's legal history, Yonhap News reported.
The Busan District Court sentenced the 42-year-old man, identified only by the first initial of his surname "L," to a 30-month prison term suspended for three years on charges of forcibly having sex with his Filipino wife at knifepoint.
In 2004, a district court found a Seoul man guilty of sexually assaulting his wife. But this latest ruling marks the nation's first judicial conviction of a man on marital rape charges.
"The defendant should have treated his wife with affection, because she has difficulties in speaking Korean and feels lonely in this remote foreign country. His behavior cannot be acceptable as he threatened his wife with a gas gun and knife to have sex against her will," the Busan court was quoted as saying in its verdict.
The man was also accused of forcing his 25-year-old wife to have sex even during her menstrual period. He married his Philippine wife in 2006 through an international marriage broker in Korea and was indicted last year on charges of rape.
The court said it suspended his sentence for three years as he expressed remorse for his misconduct. It also noted the victim was held responsible for failing to make efforts to communicate with her husband and to adjust to Korean culture.
