A transgender father of four has been given a two-year jail term for abusing his children who refused to call him "mom," a local court here said Wednesday.

The 31-year-old man, identified only by his last name Oh, was charged with starving and beating up his four children -- one born to his first ex-girlfriend and three to the second one, whom he lived with from 2006 until last year.

His second ex-girlfriend, 31, also received a two-year term by the court for the same charge.

Oh, who has been taking female hormone injections once a week, led a normal life in the morning hours but acted like a "woman" at night to work at a local transgender bar, according to court documents.

During court trials, he showed strong desire to receive a sex reassignment surgery to become a "real woman."

Oh remains legally identified as a man. In South Korea, those who want to change their gender must receive court approval.

While sex change operations are old news from the United States to Thailand, they are still a novelty in South Korea, where Confucian ideals of filial piety and a male-dominated hierarchy are strong.

"Although the defendants claim that the beating was for educational purpose and legitimate, their conduct cannot be seen as a way of parental guidance or educational instruction, given the numbers, means and reasons of their violence," Presiding Judge Choi Doo-ho at the Jeonju District Court said.

(Yonhap News)