[Getty Images Bank]
[Getty Images Bank]

"A bowl of jjajangmyeon, please."

A 9-year-old elementary school student used those words to secretly call police while pretending to order from a Chinese restaurant, helping stop a domestic violence incident.

According to Yonhap, a call came in to the 112 emergency line at around 6:08 p.m. Sunday from a multi-unit residential building in Sangnok-gu, Ansan, Gyeonggi Province.

The caller was a 9-year-old child who opened the conversation by describing how many family members were home and asking for a bowl of jjajangmyeon, or black bean noodles, to be delivered.

As the call continued, the child calmed down and began to reveal what was actually happening inside the home.

The child told police that "Dad is trying to hit Mom" and described the parents arguing in the living room, relaying the situation step by step. A 5-year-old sibling was also in the home at the time.

Officers arrived at the scene about three minutes later, at 6:11 p.m.

Police took the child's father, a man in his 40s identified only as A, into voluntary accompaniment and booked him on charges of aggravated assault and violation of the Child Welfare Act.

A is accused of hitting his wife on the shoulder with an electric fan and shoving her during an argument.

Police also determined that A's conduct — assaulting his wife and using abusive language in front of his two children, ages 9 and 5 — constituted emotional child abuse and applied the relevant charges.

To prevent further harm, police issued an emergency measure ordering A to vacate the residence and barring him from coming within 100 meters of the victim.

"We are investigating the exact circumstances of the incident based on the victim's account," a police official said. "It appears the child showed quick thinking by pretending to place a food order so as not to be caught calling the police."


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