"I Was Beaten Too," Wife Wields a Cane—Bruised Second-Grade Son's Shocking Reaction [What Do You Think?]

[Financial News] A man has reportedly been in conflict with his wife because she disciplines their elementary school-aged child with a cane under predetermined family rules. Legal experts warned, "Even if it is a prearranged disciplinary rule, physical punishment using an implement clearly constitutes child abuse and may instead lead to a finding of habitual abuse."
On the 29th, the YouTube channel 'lawyer Yang Na-rae' introduced the story of Mr. A, a man who has been married for 11 years and has a second-grade elementary school child. Mr. A and his wife had maintained a harmonious marriage without notable differences in personality or lifestyle habits, but recently clashed over how to discipline their child.
According to Mr. A, his wife viewed positively her experience of being raised with regular corporal punishment by her father and insisted, "The reason children cause problems these days is that there are no clear principles." Eventually, she posted a rule chart on the refrigerator with specific provisions such as 'Two strokes with a cane for not doing homework' and even prepared a disciplinary cane with tape wrapped around its end.
When the child actually failed to do his homework, his wife struck his palms and calves with the cane, leaving red marks on his body. When Mr. A tried to stop her, saying, "Even so, hitting him isn't right," she refused to back down, replying, "If you intervene here, the rules will collapse." Mr. A was particularly shocked when the child himself began to regard the punishment as normal, saying, "Dad, it's okay. I did something wrong, so it's okay to be hit." He secretly threw away the cane, but his wife immediately bought the exact same product again.
Lawyer Yang Na-rae pointed out that the conduct could never be legally tolerated. An amendment to the Civil Act in 2021 deleted Article 915, which stipulated a parent's right to discipline a child, thereby completely banning physical punishment of children even by their parents.
Lawyer Yang said, "Regardless of whether the rules were agreed upon in advance, inflicting physical pain with an implement such as a cane constitutes child abuse under the Child Welfare Act." She explained, "The fact that the child was beaten regularly under a posted set of rules could instead serve as an adverse circumstance supporting a finding of 'habitual abuse.'" Precedents from the Supreme Court of Korea likewise hold that conduct constitutes physical abuse when legally prohibited means or methods are used, even if the purpose was discipline or guidance.
However, lawyer Yang advised, "If the husband does not want a divorce immediately, rather than confronting his wife by directly invoking 'child abuse,' they should watch professional educational programs or expert content together and work toward adopting nonviolent parenting methods." She added, "If the conflict continues despite various efforts because the wife refuses to abandon her belief in cane-based discipline, this
could also constitute grounds for judicial divorce."


[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter