Korean man gets 25 years in prison for killing Vietnamese daughter-in-law while she was sleeping

A South Korean man in his 80s has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for stabbing his Vietnamese daughter-in-law to death while she was sleeping at her home on 2 June this year in Seoul.

The Seoul Northern District Court on Friday (22 September) handed down the prison term for the murder, The Korean Times reported.

The man identified by his surname Kim told police that his daughter-in-law and his son did not "give him money and treated him without respect".

His daughter-in-law had been naturalised as a Korean citizen as she had lived in the country for 10 years since marrying Kim's son.

The court pointed out that Kim had deliberately planned out the murder. The investigations reviled that Kim had locked door and had prepared the murder weapon in advance. He stabbed the woman in the neck and back.

The court also stated that the murder was particularly cruel as the act took place in the presence of the daughter-in-law's young children.

Speaking with the media on 29 June, foreign ministry spokesperson Le Thi Thu Hang said, "The Vietnamese Embassy in South Korea has worked with local authorities in identifying the victim."

According to immigration data published by The Korea Times, around 147,295 Vietnamese people were living in South Korea until last November of which 7.4% were expats.

Many young Vietnamese women from poor families marry South Korean men through illegal brokerage services, the VNExpress news website reported.

The report also stated that almost 40% of the marriages ended in divorce within five years and many blamed the cultural and language differences for the divorces. The women also face abuse by their husbands and new families, the report added.