Court issues arrest warrant for infanticide suspect

Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency [YONHAP]

A court on Friday issued an arrest warrant for a woman accused of killing two newborns and keeping their bodies in a freezer at an apartment in Suwon, Gyeonggi.

The 35-year-old, identified by her surname Ko, is suspected of murdering her two infants and storing their bodies in a refrigerator at her home in Jangan District, Suwon.

Judge Cha Jin-Seok, who presided over the review at the Suwon District Court, cited sufficient evidence of the alleged crimes and the risk that the suspect could attempt to flee as his reasons for approving the warrant request from the Gyeonggi Nambu Police Precinct.

Ko was immediately taken into custody by the police on Wednesday after the police found the two infants wrapped in plastic bags and kept in a freezer. She admitted to the police she had killed the two babies on the same day.

The two infants were found after the Board of Audit and Inspection in Korea asked the police to look into 23 babies deemed particularly at risk of harm after discovering that as many as 2,236 babies born between 2015 and 2022 had not been registered by their parents.

The mother is accused of killing two newborns a day after giving birth to each of them in November 2018 and November 2019.

She reportedly told the police that she did so due to economic hardship, as she was already raising three children with her husband. The couple's other children are two 12-year-old and 8-year-old daughters and a 10-year-old son.

The suspect said she strangled a baby girl born in November 2018 at home and a baby boy in November 2019 near the hospital where she gave birth.

The National Forensic Service on Thursday announced in its preliminary finding that no particular physical harm was found on the bodies of two infants.

Police are also investigating the 40-something-year-old husband, identified by his surname Lee. He told the police that he was unaware of his wife killing the babies as she told him she had an abortion and he believed her.

He also said he was unaware of the dead bodies being kept in their refrigerator, as they were many plastic bags inside.

According to the JoongAng Ilbo, Ko began setting her affairs in order as police began investigating the case.

She left her job at a call center, where she had been working since April, on June 12 after being questioned by the police earlier in the month.

The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency launched an investigation into the case after the Suwon city government on June 5 told them Ko is suspected of child abuse.

During the first questioning session by the police, Ko said she “sent her children to an acquaintance she met via the internet because she could not raise them.”

When the police called Ko in for further questioning, the suspect postponed the schedule saying that she has an open class for parents to attend. Ko attended the open class with her husband on June 14.

The arrest warrant hearing on Friday was held without questioning the suspect as Ko refused to show up for the review. She reportedly made the decision after being persuaded by her husband during his visit to the lockup where the suspect was detained.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO, CHOI MO-RAN [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]