CHEONGJU, South Korea, An undocumented Chinese man has been sentenced to four years in prison on charges of attempted murder, a regional court said Sunday.

The Cheongju District Court in Cheongju, some 110 kilometers south of Seoul, said the 48-year-old Chinese was convicted for attempting to kill a male acquaintance, who is a cousin of a woman that the Chinese man had sexually harassed earlier.

According to authorities, the Chinese man and the female companion had dinner at a Cheongju restaurant on July 13, when he touched the woman’s body against her will.

After the male acquaintance was informed that his cousin was harassed, he called the Chinese man to complain. The Chinese then asked the acquaintance to meet him in person.

The man purchased two knives before the meeting. The two got into a verbal argument before the Chinese man stabbed his acquaintance in the abdomen, causing injuries that required four weeks to heal.

During trial, the Chinese man claimed that he had no intent to kill his acquaintance, but the court still sentenced him to four years in prison.

“The abdomen has many vital organs, and it’s easy to see how stabbing that area can cause death,” the court said. “We took into account the fact that the man has not been forgiven by the victim and the brutal nature of his crime.”

Source: Yonhap News Agency