Police officers found a note in his pocket indicating his resentment over his ex-wife being close with the wounded man. (image: Dong-Wook Kim/flickr)
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) — A man in his eighties killed his ex-wife by stabbing her and poisoned himself to death on December 28. He also wounded a man in his seventies who was with the victim at the scene. The man’s condition is reported to be critical.
According to Jeju Dongbu Police Station, the culprit’s ex-wife bled to death on the scene, and the man who was with the homicide victim was stabbed several times. The culprit poisoned himself soon after the crime. Police officers found a note in his pocket indicating his resentment over his ex-wife being close with the wounded man.
According to the police, the culprit and his ex-wife met in a nursing home and got married six years ago when they both had no family to rely on. The perpetrator had lived alone since their divorce in April 2013.
According to the National Police Agency, the number of violent crimes against partners or ex-partners in South Korea has been on the rise since 2007. The number of reported cases was 483 in 2007, and augmented to 521 cases in 2008, 608 cases in 2009 and 736 cases in 2013.
Divorce rates for seniors are also increasing in Korea. According to a report by the Seoul City Government published on December 24, the number of divorces for senior citizens in Seoul reached a record high percentage in terms of the total number of divorces among Seoul citizens, representing 31.8 percent of the total in 2013. Last year, one out of three divorced couples in Seoul was in a marriage with a duration of over 20 years.
Nationwide, about 9,400 couples got divorced after more than 30 years of marriage in 2013. According to a report by Statistics Korea on April 22, the number of divorces after more than 30 years of marriage in 2013 was 1.8 times bigger than 10 years ago.
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
