On January 1 Next Year, 'Naktaejoe' to Be Automatically Abolished... 67 Years After the Enactment of the Criminal Law

On the 2nd, in front of the Jongno Police Station in Seoul, a press conference titled "Condemning the Police for Gagging Women's Voices" was held, hosted by the Joint Action for the Abolition of Abortion Laws for All. The Joint Action condemned the police for summoning the co-executive committee members who held the abortion law press conference on charges of violating the Assembly and Demonstration Act, demanding the complete abolition of abortion laws and the guarantee of sexual and reproductive rights. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Wondara] The crime of abortion will lose its effect on January 1st next year. This means that the crime of abortion will disappear in Korea for the first time in 67 years since the Penal Code was enacted in 1953.

According to the National Assembly on the 27th, the plenary session of the temporary National Assembly is expected to be held after the new year. The Legislative and Judiciary Committee, the standing committee in charge, has not scheduled a separate review date for the amendment of the Penal Code. Earlier, the Constitutional Court ruled in April last year that the Penal Code provisions criminalizing abortion were 'unconstitutional,' and ordered the creation of improved legislation by the end of this year. If the improved legislation does not pass the National Assembly within the deadline after the unconstitutionality ruling, the law will automatically expire.

If an amendment to the Penal Code maintaining abortion punishment passes the National Assembly next year, the crime of abortion will be revived, but it is widely expected that it will not be discussed due to being overshadowed by other urgent issues between the ruling and opposition parties. The Legislative Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee, which had been struggling with the amendment of the High-ranking Officials' Crime Investigation Office (Gongu Office) Act, met again on the 24th but only discussed the Serious Accidents Punishment Act.

If the abortion crime discussion ends with automatic expiration, there is also an analysis that the political circle can avoid backlash from civic groups and religious organizations while achieving effects similar to legal amendments.

It is also highly likely that political discussions will develop more toward strengthening 'women's health rights' rather than the crime of abortion. On the 24th, during her confirmation hearing at the National Assembly, Women's and Family Minister nominee Jeong Young-ae responded to a question from Lee Su-jin, a proportional representative of the Democratic Party, about the full abolition of the crime of abortion, saying, "My basic belief is that rather than punishing abortion by law, it should change in a direction that guarantees women's health rights, reproductive rights, and such."

Meanwhile, the proposed amendments so far are divided into those setting an 'abortion allowance period' and those for full abolition. The government proposal does not punish abortion up to 14 weeks of early pregnancy and allows surgery up to 24 weeks only in cases of pregnancy due to crimes such as rape. Jo Hae-jin, a member of the People Power Party, proposed a bill maintaining the punishment clause but allowing abortion surgery only within 6 weeks before the fetal heartbeat is detected. Park Joo-min of the Democratic Party proposed deleting the punishment clause and relaxing the abortion allowance standard to 24 weeks. On the other hand, Kwon In-sook of the Democratic Party and Lee Eun-joo of the Justice Party proposed bills for the 'full abolition of the crime of abortion.'

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