This file photo shows an infant unit at a Seoul hospital. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 18 (Korea Bizwire) – The National Assembly passed a bill Tuesday to toughen the punishment, up to the death penalty, for the killing of newborn babies and related cases of body abandonment amid public outrage over the recent deaths of unregistered infants.
The revision of the Criminal Act calls for elevating the punishment for infanticide and abandonment of an infant’s body to the same level as the punishment for ordinary murder and body abandonment.
Currently, individuals found guilty of ordinary murder may face the death penalty, life imprisonment or a minimum prison sentence of five years.
However, the punishment for infanticide is currently limited to a maximum prison term of 10 years.
The revision also stipulates imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 5 million won (US$3,970) for those convicted of infant body abandonment.
For body abandonment by direct family members, the punishment increases to imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to 15 million won.
Previously, the law stipulated a prison term of up to two years or a fine of up to 3 million won for those convicted of infant body abandonment.
The revised bill is expected to take effect six months from now.
It marks the first revision since the act was initially enacted in 1953.
Bipartisan efforts have been under way in recent months to prevent cases of unregistered babies, following a series of high-profile cases of murder and body abandonment involving newborns.
The Board of Audit and Inspection found that some 2,000 babies born in the country between 2015 and 2022 were undocumented after birth.
Among the cases, a baby who was born in 2022 was later discovered to have died from malnutrition in the southern city of Changwon.
In a separate case, two unregistered babies were found dead inside a refrigerator in Suwon, just south of Seoul.
(Yonhap)
