"Husband Wearing Ankle Bracelet All Day"… North Korean Defector Woman Wins Marriage Annulment Lawsuit

Lawsuit Supported by Korea Legal Aid Corporation
Annulment of Marriage and 8 Million Won Compensation Awarded

A North Korean defector woman who married a man hiding his sex crime record through an online matchmaking site won a marriage annulment lawsuit with the help of the Korea Legal Aid Corporation.

According to the Korea Legal Aid Corporation on the 10th, Judge Choi Chi-bong of Jeonju District Court ruled to annul the marriage between the North Korean defector A and her husband B in the marriage annulment lawsuit filed by A against B. Judge Choi also ordered B to pay 8 million won in damages to A.

Image of an electronic tracking device (electronic anklet). [Image source=Yonhap News]

A, who escaped from North Korea and entered South Korea in 2016, met B through an online matchmaking site and dated for about three months before marrying in March of last year.

However, early in their newlywed life, A noticed something strange about her husband B. B always wore an ankle bracelet when washing or sleeping.

When A asked the reason out of curiosity, B claimed that he had a past as a gangster and had taken punishment on behalf of some juniors he knew.

Skeptical, A mentioned the ankle bracelet to an agent from a national agency who regularly visited to check on her well-being. Only after hearing the explanation from the agent did A vaguely learn about her husband's past.

Later, A confirmed through the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s online Sex Offender Notification e-Service that her husband B had been sentenced to eight years in prison over ten years ago for charges including special forcible molestation and special robbery and rape.

A also found out that B had secretly taken out a 20 million won card loan using her mobile phone. When these facts were exposed, B suddenly left the house.

Eventually, A sought help from the Korea Legal Aid Corporation and, with their support, filed a lawsuit seeking annulment of the marriage and 15 million won in damages.

The court ruled that B’s concealment of his sex crime record constituted fraud by hiding facts that could have decisively influenced A’s intention to marry, thus qualifying as 'fraud.'

The court stated, "The defendant did not inform the plaintiff at the time of the marriage registration that he had been sentenced to eight years in prison for forcibly molesting women and committing robbery and rape. This criminal record of the defendant was a significant factor affecting the plaintiff’s decision to marry the defendant. The plaintiff was mistaken about the defendant’s personal background without knowing such facts at the time, and if the plaintiff had known, she would not have decided to marry the defendant. Therefore, the marriage registration falls under the grounds for annulment of marriage due to fraud as stipulated in Article 816, Clause 3 of the Civil Act."

Furthermore, the court added, "Considering various circumstances revealed during the trial, such as the ages of the plaintiff and defendant, the duration of the marriage, the content and degree of deception, and the course of married life, the amount of damages the defendant must pay to the plaintiff is set at 8 million won."

Kim Geon-woo, a lawyer from the Korea Legal Aid Corporation who represented the lawsuit (7th Bar Exam), said, "As online matchmaking increases, cases where accurate information about the other party is not properly disclosed are also increasing. Especially for North Korean defectors or immigrants who are unfamiliar with domestic circumstances, expanding education and support is necessary to prevent unfortunate incidents."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.