Court Rules Against `Wicked Husband`

A Chinese woman and a Korean man arrived in Korea after registering their marriage in October 2006. The life of the 55-year-old woman soon fell into despair, however.

Her husband, 66, complained she ate too much and used electricity excessively and forced her to get a job to bring him money. The woman left him and worked elsewhere but still sent 200,000 won (167 U.S. dollars) every month to her husband and came home from time to time to do household chores.

Despite her efforts, however, her husband continued to behave irresponsibly, often keeping the door of their home locked. He also accused her of stealing things and even beat her.

No longer able to endure the situation, she filed for divorce. The husband suddenly turned over a new leaf, saying he wanted to reconcile and asked her for a second chance. Feeling pity for him, she stopped divorce proceedings.

Her husband, however, turned out to have secretly filed for divorce to avoid giving her compensation and won his case in the initial trial.

The wife returned home but in vain as her husband said they were already divorced. Frustrated over his betrayal, she appealed the court decision and filed a countersuit for 5 million won (4,192 dollars) in compensation and a divorce.

The court ruled that the man was responsible for the breakup, saying he criticized and beat her despite her good deeds of earning living expenses and doing household chores. It also said he made her suffer again by lying to her to get her to stop divorce proceedings.

ryu@donga.com