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| Cambodians are outraged by Daejeon High Court's not-guilty ruling on a murder charge for a man who had been indicted for killing his Cambodian wife in a disguised car accident. / Korea Times File |
By Lee Hyo-jin
Cambodian residents here are furious over a recent court ruling that acquitted a Korean man of charges of killing his Cambodian wife in a "disguised" car accident in order to receive insurance benefits.
A Cambodian woman in her 30s, married to a Korean living in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, said, "We are all talking about the news in our chat rooms. I cannot believe the husband was released to live on insurance benefits. Now I have grown a little suspicious that my husband asked me recently to buy life insurance."
Another Cambodian immigrant in her 30s said, "I was furious and disappointed when I heard the news. We (married immigrants) are already facing hardships due to social discrimination, and this ruling shows we are not even legally protected."
On Monday, the Daejeon High Court found the man in his 50s, surnamed Lee, not guilty of murdering his wife for insurance money in August 2014.
The Daejeon District Court had earlier dismissed the charge against Lee. But the high court later sentenced him to life in prison. Then in May 2017, the Supreme Court ruled in his favor.
Lee was arrested for intentionally causing a car accident in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. He rammed into a cargo truck parked on a side road of the Gyeongbu Highway near an interchange in Cheonan area, around 3:40 a.m., Aug. 23. His seven-month-pregnant Cambodian wife in the passenger seat died in the accident.
It was later revealed that Lee had bought 25 insurance policies for his wife since their marriage in 2008, through which he would receive 9.5 billion won ($8,020,256) upon her death.
The Daejeon High Court found him not guilty on charges of murder and insurance fraud. It only found him guilty of violating the Act on Traffic Accidents, and sentenced him to two years. The court ruled that tiredness was the cause of the car accident.
Judge Huh Yong-seok stated, "There is not enough evidence to prove clear motivation for murder. As Lee was not going through economic hardships at that time, insurance claims are not seen as a motivation."
The Embassy of Cambodia in Seoul said it plans to report the case to its headquarters back home.
"We have been monitoring this case thoroughly. As this is a sensitive case which has effected both Cambodian and Korean public opinion, we have been discussing it closely with civil organizations and lawyers," an embassy official told The Korea Times.
