"I Originally Didn't Plan to Cover It... There Are Photos We Couldn't Release" 'GeuAl' PD Reveals Reason for Coverage

Memorial messages and flowers have been placed at Hi Family Andersen Park Cemetery in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, where Jeong-in, who died at 16 months old due to abuse by her adoptive parents, is interred.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Amid ongoing public outrage over the so-called "Jung-in case," in which a 16-month-old adopted child died due to abuse by adoptive parents, SBS's Unanswered Questions (Geu-al) producer Lee Dong-won shared his reflections on covering the case on the 7th.

On that day, appearing on SBS Radio's Lee Cheol-hee's Political Show, Producer Lee said about the reason for covering the "Jung-in case," "At first, I didn't want to cover it. Right after the incident occurred, there were many reports in the media, and SBS had already covered it twice through the program Curious Stories Y, so I wondered if there was any role left for us to play."

He explained, "Usually, we receive about 50 tip emails a day for Geu-al, but for the 'Jung-in case,' we received over 200. I thought, 'Why are so many people continuously sending tips? Maybe we need to look into this.' When we investigated, there were a lot of unknown facts."

Regarding the decision to reveal Jung-in's photo and name on the broadcast, he said, "Usually, the victim's identity is not disclosed, but what surprised us was that there were signs of abuse on so many parts of the body and there were severe injuries."

He continued, "If we were to blur the face on the broadcast, we would have to show the injury sites, and when combining all the injury sites, almost the entire face was revealed. We consulted pediatricians and professors working with child abuse-related organizations, and they said, 'If it has come to this, it might be better for society to disclose the information.' After much deliberation, we decided to disclose it."

Producer Lee added, "There are also photos we could not disclose. I've seen many autopsy photos from various murder cases, but there were some photos that were overwhelming even to think about."

He also said, "At the time, police and child protection agency counselors had responded multiple times, and I think if even one of them had paid attention, this might not have happened."

Finally, Producer Lee said, "There have been many requests for a follow-up to the 'Jung-in case.' So we are continuing the investigation. If there is a role we need to play, we plan to produce a follow-up broadcast."

Photo by SBS, screenshot from 'Unanswered Questions'.

Earlier, SBS's Geu-al covered the case on the 2nd, reporting that 16-month-old Jung-in died on October 13 last year after three cardiac arrests.

According to the broadcast, Jung-in was noticeably smaller compared to peers, her entire body was covered in bruises, and her abdomen was filled with blood due to bleeding from torn organs. Jung-in was adopted by her adoptive parents at around seven months old and passed away 271 days after adoption.

Before Jung-in's death, there were three suspected abuse reports made by daycare teachers and doctors, but the police dismissed all three cases without charges. Later, medical staff judged the injuries on Jung-in's body as child abuse rather than simple accidents and reported it to the police.

Currently, the adoptive mother, Ms. Jang, has been arrested and indicted on charges of violating the Special Act on the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes (child abuse resulting in death), and the adoptive father has been indicted without detention on charges including violation of the Child Welfare Act (child abandonment and neglect).

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