Man lies about wealth, education, tries to kill wife who forgave him

(123rf)

A 29-year-old South Korean man was sentenced on Tuesday to four years in jail by an appellate court for attempted murder of his wife, whom he had tricked into marriage by lying about his wealth and educational background.

Gwangju High Court found the defendant surnamed Choi guilty of attempted murder, but overturned the earlier ruling by a lower court that had sentenced him to five years and six months in prison.

"The defendant’s history of mental illness, including depression, appears to have had an effect on his crime. He also settled with the victim and was forgiven by her," the court said in its ruling.

The defendant physically assaulted the victim and stabbed her multiple times with a knife on June 17 of last year, during which he also illegally confined her. The victim had been subject to multiple physical assaults by Choi prior to the crime, which was sparked when he became furious over her reporting his earlier abuses to the police.

Police took the victim to the hospital for medical treatment.

Investigation found that Choi had lied about being graduate of a state-run university who passed the state-run exam to become a teacher, also claiming to have substantial wealth. It was later revealed that he was in fact a lecturer at a private academy, with the claims about his educational background and wealth also being false.

The lies led to disputes, during which Choi beat his wife.

His wife forgave him for the abuse but Choi continued to assault her, leading to her reporting him to the police.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)