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Man arrested for allegedly strangling wife to death at her request

Published: 11 Feb. 2026, 18:46

Police logo [YONHAP]

A man has been arrested for allegedly suffocating his wife, who had recently been diagnosed with bone marrow cancer, to death after she asked him to do so.

The Boeun Police Station in North Chungcheong arrested the man on suspicion of murder.

The man is accused of strangling his spouse at a motel in Boeun-eup, Boeun County, at around 9 p.m. on Monday. He called emergency services the following morning, saying, “I think my wife has died.” The man confessed at the hospital after the police pressed him on the circumstances of her death.

“I committed the crime as my wife's health had worsened, and we were struggling financially,” he reportedly told police. “We decided to take our lives together and took a large amount of sleeping pills. But she woke up, shook me awake and asked me to kill her.”

The late wife had recently been in poor health and had difficulty moving. On the day of the incident, she was told at a hospital in Cheongju that she likely had bone marrow cancer, which would require treatment at a higher level hospital.

The couple is believed to have taken 5 million won ($3,400) from their home to cover funeral expenses before going to the motel and attempting to take their lives together.

The couple, who were recipients of basic livelihood security benefits, had been living by themselves in a one-room apartment.

Police said they plan to apply for an arrest warrant for the man after investigating the exact circumstances of the crime and whether it was premeditated.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]