South Korean man accused of murdering Vietnamese wife

By Phan Anh   November 18, 2019 | 05:02 am PT
Yangju City police arrested a Korean man Sunday for allegedly murdering his Vietnamese wife and burying her body.

The 55-year-old man has reportedly confessed to killing his 30-year-old Vietnamese wife with a knife Saturday, about three months into their marriage. South Korea's daily newspaper Kukmin Ilbo cited Yangju police as saying the body was later buried in North Jeolla Province’s Wanju County.

Wanju County is a three to four hour journey by train from Yangju City in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

An acquaintance of the Vietnamese wife, whose identity has not been revealed, informed local police that she was missing at 11 a.m. Saturday.

At the police station, the South Korean husband is said to have confessed to the murder, saying it happened over "various issues between the couple," JoongAng Ilbo, another daily, reported.

South Korea's largest English-language daily, Korea Herald, meanwhile, said the police have requisitioned an autopsy and an arrest warrant for the man.

Last month, South Korea’s Justice Ministry said a new amendment to the country’s Immigration Control Law would bar citizens with domestic violence records from marrying immigrants. The amendment would also deny migrant spouses to South Korean citizens who have been sentenced for a sexual crime against a child within the last 10 years.

The ministry said the move was prompted by the instances of domestic violence against foreign spouses, the latest involving a Vietnamese housewife that happened in July. The incident provoked widespread public outrage as the video recording of a South Korean man beating up his Vietnamese wife for three hours in presence of their two-year-old son went viral.

The ministry said it expects the amendment to strengthen the foundation for sound international marriages and to better protect immigrants’ rights.

For many years now, around 6,000 Vietnamese women have been marrying South Koreans every year, according to the South Korean Embassy in Hanoi. Vietnam has overtaken China as the country sending the largest number of foreign brides to South Korea.

However, many of these marriages have not been happy experiences for Vietnamese women. Cases of suicides and fatal beatings have shocked the public in both nations.

 
 
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