Soldier arrested for leaving wife to suffer without treatment for bedsores for 3 months
Published: 18 Nov. 2025, 21:08
![The logo of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/18/0b8b0fe7-d517-41b1-8a8e-5a8e2f53f23b.jpg)
The logo of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. [JOONGANG ILBO]
An active-duty noncommissioned Army officer was arrested for allegedly leaving his wife to waste away in their home for months without ever taking her to a hospital, even as her bedsores worsened severely.
A 119 call came in at 8:18 a.m. Monday from Paju, Gyeonggi, reporting that a woman was “in and out of consciousness,” according to police and emergency authorities on Tuesday.
When paramedics arrived, the woman was sitting up under a blanket. Her body was covered in filth and her legs showed signs of infection and necrosis caused by bedsores.
She is currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Ilsanseo District, Goyang, Gyeonggi.
Hospital staff, suspecting neglect due to the severity of her bedsores, notified police of the situation. Responding officers arrested her husband on suspicion of abandonment leading to injury.
Police said the man failed to take his wife to a hospital or provide proper care for about three months, even though she had difficulty moving since August due to panic disorder and depression, during which time bedsores developed across her body.
Because the suspect is an active duty soldier, police transferred the case to the military police.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY CHO MUN-GYU [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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