'Baby Selling' Followed by Male Infant's Corpse Next to 'Baby Box'... No Solution for Infant Abandonment?

Newborn Found Dead Near 'Baby Box'... Police Launch Investigation
"Adopting a Child for 200,000 Won" Single Mother Posting on Danggeun Market Finally Booked
Infant Abandonment Cases Average 127 Annually

On the 3rd, the body of a male infant wrapped in a towel was found near a baby box installed at a church in Gwanak-gu, Seoul. The photo shows the area near the church's baby box where the incident occurred. The child wrapped in the towel is reported to have been found around this blue plastic container. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] # In March last year, a woman A (21) who abandoned a newborn baby in the toilet of a Mugunghwa train and caused the baby's death turned herself in to the police. A gave birth to the baby on the Mugunghwa train stopped at Jecheon Station in Jecheon-si, Chungbuk, and then fled. At the time, a worker cleaning the train car discovered the newborn abandoned in the toilet bowl. The deceased newborn was a female baby weighing 2 kg less than average, and the umbilical cord had not been cut. A, who was an unmarried mother, was reported to have been attending a university in Daejeon at the time.

Crimes of infant abandonment, where newborn babies are left behind or secretly discarded after death, continue unabated. Recently, the methods have diversified, becoming a social problem, such as posts selling babies appearing on secondhand goods trading apps, and newborns being abandoned on the roadside despite the presence of a 'Baby Box' nearby.

On the 3rd, the body of a newborn baby was found near a 'Baby Box' at a church in Gwanak-gu, Seoul.

Multiple media outlets reported that at around 5:30 a.m., the body of an infant wrapped in a towel was found under a drum about 2 meters away from the Baby Box installed at Jusarang Community Church in Nangok-dong. The Baby Box, installed to prevent newborns from being carelessly abandoned, was first set up at this church in 2009.

According to reports, the infant's body discovered by a passerby still had the umbilical cord and placenta attached. After analyzing nearby closed-circuit television (CCTV), the police captured footage of a woman placing the infant on the drum at around 10:10 p.m. on the 2nd. The police plan to investigate the woman in detail.

Such crimes of abandoning newborns or secretly discarding infants who died immediately after birth continue without pause. According to data submitted by Baek Hyeryun, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, to the National Police Agency, over the past 10 years (2010?2019), there were 110 cases of infant homicide and 1,272 cases of infant abandonment. On average, 127 cases of infant abandonment occur annually, and infant homicide occurs about once a month.

Another issue is that most infants abandoned immediately after birth die. In July, the body of a boy estimated to be two months old was found in a wardrobe in a villa in Gwanak-gu, Seoul, and in June, an infant's body was found near a hiking trail in a mountain in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, sparking controversy. The infant's body, discovered by a nearby hiker, was reportedly buried in the ground wrapped in plastic.

On the 16th of last month, a post appeared on a used goods trading mobile application offering a 36-week-old baby for sale, prompting the police to launch an investigation. The photo shows a screenshot of the relevant post on the app site. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Such crimes are often committed by economically disadvantaged unmarried mothers in their teens and twenties or women who became pregnant unintentionally. When suddenly giving birth in a situation where economic independence is difficult, there is no proper financial support available to raise the child.

On the 2nd, a 20-something unmarried mother was booked on suspicion of attempted child trafficking after posting on the secondhand goods trading app 'Danggeun Market' that she was selling a 36-week-old baby.

On the 16th of last month, she posted on Danggeun Market a listing titled "Adopting out a baby. 36 weeks old," offering to sell the baby for 200,000 won, along with a photo of the baby wrapped in a blanket.

The woman reportedly told the police that she posted the listing because, amid fear and despair during childbirth and postpartum care, she had consulted an adoption agency but found the adoption process complicated and lengthy.

In reality, even though both the woman and man gave birth to the child together, the woman often bears sole responsibility for raising and legal obligations. According to the '2019 Population and Housing Census' released by Statistics Korea, there were a total of 27,843 unmarried parents with children under 18, of which unmarried mothers (21,000) were three times more than unmarried fathers (7,000).

In this situation, few unmarried mothers receive child support from the fathers. The absence of a husband and the burden of childcare create a vicious cycle that women bear alone.

According to the 'Survey on Childcare and Self-Reliance of Unmarried Mothers' by the Korean Women's Development Institute, only 4.7% of unmarried mothers receive child support from the fathers. This means that only about 5 out of 100 receive child support from the father.

Crimes involving the secret abandonment of recently deceased infants continue unabated. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

As a result, voices are rising for the government to pay child support on behalf of the mothers. In 2018, a petition titled "Please enact a hit-and-run prevention law" was posted on the Blue House's public petition board and gained over 200,000 signatures. The petition requested that the government pay child support on behalf of the mothers and recover the costs from the biological fathers afterward.

At the time, the Blue House responded, "We will prepare specific measures based on research results on securing the effectiveness of child support enforcement systems, including the child support advance payment system."

Experts have suggested eliminating social prejudice against unmarried mothers. Kim Dokyung, president of the Korea Unmarried Mothers and Families Association, said in an interview with CBS Radio's 'Kim Hyunjung's News Show,' "If there is family support during difficult times, one can endure, but many do not receive family support." She added, "Although things are gradually improving, women who have indirectly learned about this through media or news often think about giving up their child even before giving birth."

She continued, "If the monthly income is below 1.52 million won, a monthly payment of 200,000 won is provided until the child turns 18," but pointed out, "Except for unmarried mother facilities that only very poor unmarried mothers can enter, there are no policies specifically supporting unmarried mothers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.