Police arrest a husband on charges of murdering his wife

The police arrested a husband in his 60s on charges of murdering his wife at his home in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in broad daylight.

The Suseo Police Station announced on Sunday that they had apprehended a man in his 60s for killing his wife with a knife at their home in Suseo-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, around 2 p.m. the previous day. The stab-wounded wife found in cardiac arrest was urgently sent to the hospital after CPR procedures by paramedics, ending up dying. “We are investigating the circumstances of the case before requesting an arrest warrant for the suspect,” said a police official.

There has been a continuous stream of killings of spouses. On March 4, a man in his 70s was urgently arrested by the police for killing his wife, who had lived apart at their home in Doksan-dong, Geumcheon-gu, Seoul. On Feb. 20, a man in his 40s was arrested for beating his wife to death at their home in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, and hiding the body in the trunk of his car for two months. On Jan. 25, another man in his 60s was caught after murdering his wife and attempting self-harm at their home in Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul. According to the National Police Agency, 55 murders (19 percent) out of the cases reported in 2023 were committed by the victims’ spouses, followed by children (49 cases, 16.9 percent), parents (43 cases, 14.8 percent), and romantic partners (29 cases, 10 percent). Most of the cases were carried out by family members or those in intimate relationships.

“Most interpersonal crimes occur when people are physically close to each other but emotionally distant," said Professor Lee Yun-ho of the Department of Police Administration at Dongguk University. "This is the reason that spouses and those in close relationships commit many murders.


서지원 wish@donga.com