The Underbelly of South Korean Culture...

South Korean man kills Vietnamese wife
Last updated: 5/24/2011 15:20


A Vietnamese woman was stabbed to death by her Korean husband in eastern South Korea early Tuesday, just 19 days after she gave birth to a baby, Vietnam News Agency reported.

The murder of the 23-year-old woman, whose family name is Hoang, occurred in their home in Cheongdo County in North Gyeongsang Province, Kim Teok-hwan, Cheongdo’s police officer told VNA.

Following tips from the neighbors of the couple, local police arrived at the crime scene and arrested the 37-year-old husband, whose family name is Im.

The husband confessed to police that he stabbed his wife during an argument.

He said Hoang had repeatedly demanded a divorce and planned to run away with the baby on Monday night, which led to their fight.

Hoang arrived in South Korea in April 2010 and gave birth to the baby 19 days ago.

The Vietnamese Embassy in South Korea is verifying the victim’s identity.

Local police have carried out an autopsy on the woman under the witness of the embassy’s officers.

Last July, Jang Do Hyo, a mentally ill South Korean man killed his 20-year-old Vietnamese wife, Thach Thi Hoang Ngoc, just eight days after she arrived in the country. He was later sentenced to 12 years in jail.

Following the case, South Korea pledged to make Korean men looking to marry foreign women undergo a cultural education program and announced tougher rules for matchmakers arranging foreign marriages.

More than a third of South Korean fishermen and farmers who married in 2009 chose immigrant brides, some because they were unable to find local women prepared to lead a rural lifestyle, according to an AFP report.