Read the room.

True, but it is obviously exagerated for comedic relief. In truth, I doubt she would do more than a light slap (that doesn't hurt at all) for the sake of making sure he understands. She thinks that he tripped on his own - in other words, he was careless, so she would rather make this lesson stick, than him dying from carelesness. Besides, she obviously loves him, while that other guy's father was simply abusive.
Sure, I would never hit my kid, nor is it normal in our culture, but in asia hitting a disobedient child as a disciplinary action is still all too common, so to them the woman's actions aren't as outrageous as to us. Well, at least to the older generation it isn't.

I think YOU are the one who is mistaking abusive practices as comedy since obviously the author did not ever point out any abusive practices as something funny.

I don't think the author meant to use abusive parents as comedic relief. And that wasn't abuse in the first place. She was just smacking him because he had caused her worry.
Parents in Asia find it normal to discipline their kids physically. It's a cultural difference, and it's something that I've experienced, and I don't necessarily think it's a bad thing either.

If that’s the case then it’s a cultural lost in translation occurrence here for a western reader. I personally just don’t find it endearing hitting your child who’s in the hospital. Moreso for the audience to see this after they’ve read severe child abuse and assume this is meant as light hearted relief. It’s fall flat if you take it at face value and worse as I said before devalues the point that hitting a child as really abuse rather than the “love” our villain was provided. I understand what the author was trying to convey but again the scene is a moot point.

I can understand where you're coming from, it's kinda the reason I find the tsundere trope distasteful.

I actively loathed the tsundere trope as well for this reason because it excuses everything underneath the sun as forms of tough love.

The author never used any form of abuse as comedy. She clearly portrayed the abuse of Jiho as something bad. Slapping your kid out if worry, isn't equal to abuse. And for Asians, that's many times the norm, slapping someone out of worry. You see it in Asian shows swell and its reality, and not particularly something bad. Connecting a normal Asian practice to ABUSE is ridiculous. That's clearly not the case and you are overexaggerating . The author clearly didn't portray it as abuse, and most people reading it have the knowledge about this Asian way of parenting, not the authors fault that some people who weren't raised like this and don't get it. Next time please try to understand cultures differ, and so comedy can aswell. (=・ω・=)

i think it's just a light slap, just like asians mothers do when they worried

The tsundere trope is a whole other beast. I can somewhat get a parent giving their misbehaving child a smack for acting like an idiot, but tsunderes? Fuck tsunderes. They beat up their love interest/friends for no valid reason whatsoever. These characters are simply agressive maniacs with anger management issues that would earn themselves exactly 0 friends with their attitude. They are no better than bullies and I hate bullies. Harems, oversexualised lolis and half-naked G-cup ladies are up there with the tsunderes in my "absolutely hated tropes"-list.

The ‘it’s just their culture’ excuse is a slippery slope of accepting a lot of shitty behavior. JS

But it is valid in this case. Korean parents don't normally treat their children this way anyways. This was just an over exaggeration for the sake of comedy.