Gumi 3-Year-Old Girl's Biological Mother "Never Gave Birth"... Reason for Requesting Colleague Witness Examination

Court: "Refusal of Genetic Test... Witness Application Accepted"

Biological mother Seok Mo (48) of the 3-year-old girl from Gumi, Gyeongbuk, whose death drew nationwide attention due to allegations of 'child swapping.'
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] In the appellate trial regarding Seok Mo-ssi (48), the biological mother of a 3-year-old girl found dead in a villa in Gumi, Gyeongbuk, Seok's side repeatedly denied the childbirth and insisted on additional DNA testing.

On the afternoon of the 10th, at Daegu District Court Annex Courtroom 3, during the appellate trial presided over by the Criminal Division 5 of Daegu High Court (Chief Judge Kim Seong-yeol), Seok's lawyer requested witness examination, stating, "We will prove through a colleague from her previous workplace before childbirth that there was no circumstance for Seok to have been pregnant."

They also requested additional DNA testing and confirmation of childbirth from obstetrics and gynecology clinics.

However, the court rejected the requests, saying, "DNA tests have already been conducted twice, including by the original trial and investigative agencies. How can we know from obstetrics and gynecology clinics whether childbirth occurred twice or three times?" Nevertheless, the court accepted the witness application requested by Seok.

On the other hand, the prosecution, which appealed claiming the first trial's sentence for Seok was too light, applied for sentencing witnesses. The prosecutor stated, "There are organizations that have been consistently monitoring this case as it has had social impact," and requested that this be taken into consideration during sentencing.

They added, "Seok denies the charges despite clear DNA test results," pointing out, "As a result, the actual victim (the child of Seok's daughter Kim) is separated from her biological mother and her whereabouts are unknown."

Previously, in 2018, Seok swapped the girl she gave birth to with the girl born to her daughter Kim. She was found guilty of both child swapping and corpse concealment charges in the first trial and was sentenced to eight years in prison.

Seok's second daughter, Kim Mo-ssi (22), had her appeal dismissed on September 16, confirming a 20-year prison sentence.

Meanwhile, the next trial is scheduled to be held around 3 p.m. on December 8.

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