Korean man who scalded sleeping Thai wife gets reduced prison sentence

A Korean man who poured boiling water on his sleeping wife’s face has had his prison sentence cut to three years on appeal after a settlement in which he agreed to pay her 15 million won ($11,300), legal sources said Wednesday.

The Uijeongbu District Court, hearing the appeal, sentenced the man to three years in prison for aggravated assault causing injury, down from the three years and six months he received at his first trial in June. That first sentence was six months longer than the three years prosecutors had sought. The man was indicted while in detention.

“The defendant reached a settlement with the victim on terms including the payment of 15 million won, and the victim hopes for leniency toward the defendant,” the court said. “Considering all the sentencing factors presented in the arguments in this case, the original sentence is found to be unreasonably heavy.” The man was originally sentenced to three years and six months in prison. 

The man poured water he had boiled in an electric kettle onto the face and neck of his wife, a Thai national, as she slept at their home in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi, on Dec. 3 last year. She suffered second-degree burns.

The wife was taken to a hospital in Seoul that specializes in treating burns. The case came to light when hospital staff suspected an assault and reported it to the police.

The wife later described the attack through an acquaintance’s social media account, and the case drew wider attention after Thai media outlets reported on it.

“I wanted to make her face ugly because I was afraid my wife would meet another man,” the man told police during questioning.

The man later changed his account. “I fell and spilled the water by accident,” he said.

At trial, however, the man admitted to all the charges and tearfully pleaded for leniency.

BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]