A man who cops say threw a pot of boiling water on his girlfriend, causing severe burns to her arms and back, has been returned to L.A. to face justice after fleeing to South Korea, the FBI announced today.

Feds say 33-year-old Min Kyu Kim of Los Angeles attacked the unidentified victim with his fists and then with the scalding water. But when he faced one count of domestic abuse, one count of assault with a deadly weapon, and one count of false imprisonment in August of 2010, he allegedly took off:

Those are some pretty serious allegations. But they got more serious when the alleged assault was transformed into a federal Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution (UFAP) case.

According to the FBI, the federal complaint …

… alleges that Kim beat the victim with his fists and with the pot that contained the boiling water when she attempted to escape.

A federal warrant was issued, and the FBI's Fugitive Task Force worked with South Korean officials to extradite Kim. The operation was a success. He was deported last week and then arrested when he arrived at LAX Friday, the FBI said today.

He was turned over to the LAPD and was expected to face local charges soon. Now that Kim's in custody the feds have dropped their case to allow the L.A. County District Attorney's office to press its original charges.

You could say he's now in some pretty hot water.

Send feedback and tips to the author. Follow Dennis Romero on Twitter at @dennisjromero. Follow LA Weekly News on Twitter at @laweeklynews.

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.