Woman arrested on suspicion of body dumping her newborn

Police on Wednesday search for the body of an infant suspected to have been buried on a hill in Gijang County, Busan in 2015. [SONG BONG-GEUN]

A mother suspected of hiding the body of her newborn in Gimpo, Gyeonggi, was taken into custody, police said Thursday.

The 40-something-year-old mother has been arrested on suspicion of body abandonment and is under investigation, the Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency said.

Police allege she buried her daughter in a vegetable garden in Gimpo in August 2016, a day after the baby was born at a hospital in Incheon.

The mother has not registered the baby at birth.

The woman’s arrest came as local governments conducted a complete inspection of unregistered babies.

Police said they are investigating 400 cases of babies unregistered at birth a day earlier.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]