This photo shows the neonatal ward of a hospital in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – A total of 2,154 infants born in the country between 2015 and 2022 were not documented after birth, the state audit agency said Thursday.
The Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) disclosed the findings during its routine audit of the health ministry, in the wake of a series of high-profile cases involving the abandonment and murder of unregistered babies.
Among the infants examined in a sample investigation of 23 cases, the BAI reported that six of them either died or remain unaccounted for.
Among these cases, a baby born in 2022 was also found to have died from malnutrition in the southern city of Changwon, the BAI said.
It said the whereabouts of another baby born in 2021 in the central city of Hwaseong remain unknown. The mother of the baby told the police that she had handed the baby over to an unidentified individual.
Without a birth registration, a child would be unable to receive routine vaccines and other health care services and would even face difficulties attending school.
The BAI emphasized the need for comprehensive efforts, such as using temporary infant identification numbers held by the ministry.
Bipartisan efforts are under way to address the problem, such as passing a law that mandates medical institutions to report the birth of babies.
In South Korea, only parents are required to report the birth of their children to the government within a month after birth, but violators are punished only with small fines.
(Yonhap)
