Ministry of Justice: "Need to Consider Harsher Punishment for Parents Who Kill Their Children"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Ministry of Justice has reportedly informed the Presidential Transition Committee that it should consider imposing heavier penalties on parents who kill their children.

According to the legal community and Yonhap News on the 8th, the Ministry of Justice reported during the transition committee briefing on the 29th of last month that it is necessary to amend the law to impose heavier penalties on the killing of children, i.e., bisok (卑屬) murder, just as with the killing of ascendants.

However, the Ministry of Justice is taking a more cautious stance on other pledges by President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol, such as establishing provisions for habitual abuse crimes and revoking parental rights. This is because the Child Abuse Punishment Act already includes provisions for increasing penalties by up to half the sentence for habitual offenders, and prosecutors are authorized to request the revocation of parental rights or change of guardianship in cases of severe or habitual child abuse.

The Ministry of Justice stated, "It is necessary to review the differences and effectiveness between the current punishment provisions for habitual child abuse offenders and the establishment of provisions for habitual abuse crimes." Regarding the revocation of parental rights, they plan to assess the current operation of requests for parental rights termination and consult further with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on additional measures.

The Ministry of Justice is also pursuing an amendment to the Child Abuse Punishment Act to establish immunity provisions for personnel responding to child abuse. This would stipulate that police officers or dedicated officials dispatched to child abuse reports will not face disciplinary or civil/criminal liability if accidents occur during crime prevention or suppression efforts, provided there is no intentional or gross negligence.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office also reported to the transition committee plans to expand and reorganize the current 'Women and Children Crime Investigation Division' into the 'Socially Vulnerable Crime Investigation Division (tentative name).' Without separate organizational restructuring, they plan to transfer part of the investigation scope from existing criminal divisions and assign 1 to 2 personnel from each department to increase the size of the Socially Vulnerable Crime Investigation Division.

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