A court has handed down a heavy prison sentence to a man in his 40s who attempted to murder his spouse with a weapon after claiming the spouse refused to maintain their married life and demanded living expenses.

The Daejeon District Court's 11th Criminal Division (Presiding Judge Park Woo-geun) sentenced 43-year-old A, who was indicted on charges of attempted murder, to 10 years in prison and ordered five years of probation.

A was brought to trial on charges of attempting to kill his legal wife, B, by repeatedly swinging a weapon at her in the parking lot of a villa in Daejeon on April 5 of this year.

Investigations revealed that after registering their marriage with B last year, A provided over 100 million won to B—who said money was needed to secure a residence—but committed the crime out of resentment when B refused to maintain their married life.

Furthermore, it was found that A went to find B and attacked her with a weapon after she refused to meet him, even though he had already filed and then dropped a fraud complaint against her.

The court stated, "Although the crime did not result in murder due to the victim's resistance and a witness's intervention, severe punishment is inevitable given the means and methods of the crime and the extent of the damage." It added, "We considered mitigating factors, such as the fact that there were somewhat extenuating circumstances regarding the motive for the crime, and that the defendant has no prior record of criminal punishment before this case."

Reported by Son Hyeong-an | Video by Lee Eui-seon | Graphics by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News