A 27-year-old woman, who asked to be identified only by her surname Lee, said she did not see it coming when her boyfriend, whom she had planned to marry, started obsessing over her ever since they started living together.”Every time I was typing on my phone, he thought I was texting other boys, and he wouldn’t even let me buy coffee by myself, saying it was dangerous,” she said.Lee eventually told him she wanted to end the relationship, but she couldn’t escape the violence that left her eye and chin purple.For Korean women, the term “safe breakup” is a renowned concept at a time when stories of dating violence, stalking or killings by their once-intimate partners are on the rise.

“Seriously ask your boyfriend to pay off your debts for you,” one comment read on an online community discussing tips on how to end a relationship safely without getting threats.Park Ga-eun, a 24-year-old designer in Seoul, said that people close to her, including herself, tend to be careful not to reveal their home addresses to their dating partners.”It’s just to make sure they don’t take out the anger on our families in case we want to break up,” she said.A safe breakup, which refers to ending a relationship safely without stalking, violence or threats, rose to the spotlight after a recent series of gruesome intimate killings against women that sent a shock wave through the nation.Earlier this month, a 25-year-old medical school student, identified by his surname Choi, was arrested on charges of stabbing his girlfriend to death on the rooftop of a building in southern Seoul on March 6.Choi, who has admitted to having premeditated the murder, reportedly told police he had committed the crime after his girlfriend told him she wanted to 스포츠토토존 break up.