Crime

A taekwondo instructor in his 30s was arrested on charges of assault and stalking after allegedly attacking his girlfriend in the street and fracturing her facial bone.

The Ilsandongbu Police Precinct in Goyang, Gyeonggi, said Saturday that it had detained the suspect on charges of inflicting injury and violating the anti-stalking law.

The instructor is accused of kicking the victim in the face around 10 p.m. on Aug. 2 in a street in Goyang’s Ilsandong District. The attack reportedly occurred after an argument during a drinking gathering with acquaintances.

The victim suffered a fractured facial bone and nerve damage that required surgery.

“I was so terrified at the time I pleaded for my life,” the victim told SBS in an interview. “There’s no feeling left around my nose and under my eye, and the doctors said it may not come back.”

Following the assault, the instructor allegedly entered the victim’s home without permission, sent photos taken from inside, and repeatedly contacted the person by phone and text, saying, “I’ll apologize, just come home.”