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A man in his 20s has been sentenced to five years in prison for assaulting his spouse and forcing her to tattoo his name on her body after suspecting her of infidelity following his release from prison.

The Supreme Court's first division, presided over by Justice Noh Tae-ak on Tuesday, upheld the lower court's ruling, confirming a five-year prison sentence for the 29-year-old man named Kim, who was charged with multiple offenses, including aggravated unlawful confinement causing injury, assault and coercion.

Kim was tried for repeatedly assaulting his spouse after suspecting her of having an affair shortly after he was released from prison in July last year.

He reportedly threatened her, saying, "If your feelings for me are genuine, get a tattoo on your body," and coerced her into tattooing phrases such as "I will live forever as (Kim's name)'s woman" on four different parts of her body.

Kim was also accused of confining his wife at home for 9 hours and 30 minutes while assaulting her during an interrogation about the alleged affair, resulting in injuries, including a ruptured eardrum.

He also forcibly cut her hair with scissors and made her watch snake videos, saying, "Every moment for me is a million times more painful than your hatred for snakes."

The first trial sentenced Kim to five years in prison. The court said, "The victim is believed to have experienced great fear and pain, and the degree of injury sustained by the victim is not minor," adding that Kim's record of seven prior convictions for violent crimes was an aggravating factor.

However, the court considered it a mitigating factor that Kim paid 13 million won ($9,750) to the victim as part of a settlement and that the victim did not wish for him to be punished.

In the second trial, Kim claimed he was in a state of diminished mental capacity at the time of the crime, but the court did not accept this argument.

The appellate court ruled, "While it can be seen that he was somewhat vulnerable to impulse control at the time of the crime, it cannot be considered equivalent to someone suffering from a mental illness."

The Supreme Court also deemed this judgment appropriate and dismissed Kim's appeal, finalizing his five-year prison sentence.

This article from the Hankook Ilbo, a sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by a generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.