Korea’s Latest Crisis: Parents are Secretly Murdering Their Babies
“Ghost babies” became the latest crisis in South Korea as various parents are discovered to have murdered their children.
Recently, various cases of babies being murdered by their parents emerged in South Korea, after governments cracked down on cases of undocumented children.
In particular, a woman in her 40s was recently investigated by the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency under charges of discarding the body of her baby girl. The woman confessed that her baby died at home a day after birth, and the body was buried in a vegetable garden.
Meanwhile, a father and grandmother were detained under suspicion of murdering a baby and discarding the body. Investigation revealed that the father likely killed his baby boy and hid the body on a hill.
Additionally, in 2023, 2 babies were revealed to have been murdered by their mother in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and their bodies were stored in a freezer at all.
At the time, said mother expressed that she couldn’t afford to raise the children, leading to her infanticide.
And this is just a few cases among many – sending South Korea into a “ghost babies” crisis.
Regarding this issue, a report from The Korea Herald suggested that Korea’s lack of childcare support and strict view on maternity are 2 major causes. The rising cost of child-rearing and lack of access to abortions are also mentioned as major attributes.
So far, some solutions have been suggested – but all of them have faced either opposition or concerns. As a result, the unfortunate issue of parents murdering their own babies continues to quietly exist in Korea.
Source: Krb, Korea JoongAng Daily, The Korea Herald
