Appeals court upholds 'marital rape' conviction

SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Yonhap) -- An appeals court has upheld a husband's conviction for raping his wife, court documents showed Sunday, the first time a higher court has ruled on marital rape.
The 40-year-old husband, whose name was withheld, received a five-year prison term for stabbing his wife and then forcing her to have sex with him in April.
The Seoul High Court reduced the man's sentence to two-and-a-half years, suspended for three years, for the rape charge, saying forced sex between spouses cannot be treated the same as other instances of rape.
"Although there were sexual relations between spouses against one spouse's will, the court should carefully judge whether such acts could constitute rape, considering the nature of marriage," which includes sexual relations, presiding judge Choi Sang-ryol said in the ruling.
"Though spouses have the right to have sex, that doesn't necessarily give either party the right to force his or her spouse to have sex by using violence or threats," Choi said.
In 2009, the Busan District Court first convicted a husband for raping his wife, but an appeals court dismissed the case after the defendant committed a suicide.
The Supreme Court has not yet acknowledged marital rape convictions, except in cases where spouses have long been separated from each other.