Husband who gave wife 300,000 won a month hid years of secret investment losses

A husband who managed the household finances of a dual-income couple for eight years — taking most of his wife's salary each month — secretly invested the money in shares and virtual assets and lost a substantial sum, it has emerged.

The story of Woman A, eight years into her marriage and the mother of an elementary school-age son, was recently featured on YTN Radio's legal advice program "Jo In-seop's Counseling Center."

After marrying, A handed financial control to her husband on the grounds that he was good with numbers and investing. Although both spouses worked, she transferred most of her monthly salary to him. He gave her about 300,000 won ($218) as a monthly allowance and told her it had to cover lunch, transportation and clothing.

He also monitored her spending closely, checking her card transaction history line by line and demanding to know why she bought coffee so often or who she had eaten with. When she bought her mother a bag worth 200,000 won as a birthday gift, he reportedly flew into a rage, asking why she had spent "household money" without his permission.

Yet the husband never disclosed his own spending or the state of his finances.

Frustrated by the pattern, A checked her husband's accounts and made a shocking discovery: over the previous eight years, he had used the couple's combined earnings to invest in shares and virtual assets without telling her, incurring significant losses. It also emerged that he had taken out unsecured loans to fund the investments.

When A confronted him, asking why he had done all this without consulting her, he reportedly shot back that someone who "doesn't know how to manage a single won" had no business questioning who controlled the finances.

"My husband never cheated on me or hit me, but I couldn't spend the money I worked hard to earn as I pleased," A said. "Even when I wanted to meet friends or take care of my parents, I had to watch his reaction." She asked whether any of this could constitute grounds for divorce.

Attorney Lim Hyeong-chang of Shinsegae Law said that even without infidelity or assault, prolonged financial control that has broken down a marriage to the point where it cannot be repaired can constitute grounds for a judicial divorce.

In fact, Article 840, Clause 6 of the Civil Act lists "any other grave cause making it difficult to continue the marriage" as a ground for judicial divorce.

Lim said that one spouse managing the finances alone is not by itself grounds for divorce, but added that "if control over finances was used as a means to dominate or pressure the other party, it can become a problem."

Excessively restricting living expenses while continuously monitoring the other spouse's card use, and managing a spouse's income while concealing one's own financial situation over a prolonged period, could be considered unfair treatment within the marriage or evidence of an irretrievable breakdown, he said.

On the husband's decision to invest in shares and virtual assets — and to take out loans to do so — without consulting his wife, Lim said the investment losses would not automatically be attributed entirely to the husband's liability. He added, however, that even if most assets are held in the husband's name, they may still be subject to division if they were built up together during the marriage. He advised A to compile detailed records — including salary histories and bank transfer logs — documenting how the husband managed and disposed of the assets on his own.

When a spouse has managed finances unilaterally for a long period and the full extent of the assets is difficult to determine, a court order requiring the submission of financial transaction records can be sought during divorce proceedings to trace financial assets, loan histories and the movement of funds.