Mother who abandoned baby's corpse in Ulsan turns herself in

Social Affairs

Published: 27 Jun. 2023, 18:31 Updated: 27 Jun. 2023, 20:05

Mother who abandoned baby's corpse in Ulsan turns herself in

A so-called ″baby box″ of a Jusarang Community Church in Gwanak District Seoul in May. The church has been accepting unwanted babies since 2009. The parents could leave the baby in the box without identifying themselves. According to the church there have been over 2,000 babies left in the box. Despite such system, unfortunately situation continues especially among single parents that they themselves are underage. [YONHAP]

A mother who left the corpse of her newborn at a garbage drop-off location of an apartment in Ulsan last week has turned herself in.

According to Ulsan police on Tuesday, the mother, who has not been identified, visited a police station at around half past noon.

The baby’s naked corpse was found by a sanitation worker around 3 a.m. on Thursday.

The baby, believed to be premature, weighed 800 grams (1.7 pounds) and was 50 centimeters tall (19.7 inches).

The government recently started tracking down babies who were born but not registered.

Last week, two dead infants were found in the freezer of a family in Suwon, Gyeonggi. The mother has been detained for their murder.

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

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]