Woman arrested for buying at least six babies

Police said on Thursday that they had apprehended a woman for buying a total of six babies from single mothers for between 200,000 won ($167) and 1.5 million won.

The 23-year-old suspect, surnamed Lim, reportedly made the transactions between March 2014 and April 2015, the Nonsan Police Precinct in South Chungcheong said.

She was arrested on Monday and has been charged for violating the Child Welfare Act.

According to authorities, Lim reportedly contacted the mothers via online sites, offering them money in exchange for their babies.

Authorities said that the suspect had consistently stated her love for children, saying that she had intended to raise the babies herself, though police added that her financial situation was not conducive to raising several children.

Profilers will work to investigate whether Lim’s statement is reliable.

On Wednesday, authorities sent one baby girl, who was being raised by Lim’s aunt in Daegu, to a child care agency, along with three other babies Lim was raising.

The babies’ health was found to be decent.

Police are currently looking for the babies’ biological parents. So far, one was found to be a teenage mother.

She will also be charged for violating the Child Welfare Act.

The police are searching for the parents of the others.

Lim said she sent back two babies to their parents, who are living in Busan and Daegu.

“Up until now, there is no sign that the suspect resold the babies,” a police officer said. “We plan to look into her financial transactions and phone records to determine if she made any more deals.”

BY SHIN JIN-HO [kim.hyangmin@joongang.co.kr]