Extreme Choices Involving Even Innocent Children... Why Are Filicide Cases Increasing?

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Recovery of Missing Jo Yuna's Family Vehicle Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] The family of 10-year-old Jo Yuna, who went missing in Wando, Jeollanam-do, was found underwater along with their vehicle. The police recently received a verbal notification from the National Forensic Service confirming the presence of sleeping pill components in the bodies of Jo and her parents. After restoring the accident data recorder (EDR) and black box of the family’s vehicle, the police have tentatively concluded that Jo’s parents drove the car into the sea themselves. The black box reportedly contains conversations between the Jo couple suggesting an intention of suicide.

Cases where parents, due to economic hardship or personal issues, take their own lives after unilaterally killing their children continue to occur.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on the 20th, the Child Rights Protection Agency under the ministry began including ‘filicide followed by suicide’ as a cause of child abuse deaths in investigations starting in 2018. Among 28 child abuse death cases that year, 7 children (5 cases) fell under this category. This number increased to 9 children (6 cases) out of 42 in 2019, and 12 children (12 cases) out of 43 in 2020.

In the past, such cases were sometimes referred to as ‘joint suicide.’ However, since the form involves parents killing their children and then committing suicide themselves, which is a clear criminal act of murder from the child’s perspective, this term is no longer used. A politician faced public criticism on social media for using the term ‘joint suicide’ in relation to the Jo Yuna family death case.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

As the view that parents taking their own lives should not extend to taking their children’s lives grows, expressions such as ‘filicide followed by suicide’ and more recently ‘family annihilation’ have emerged.

Under current law, the crime of killing a parent (parricide) is subject to aggravated punishment. However, killing one’s children (filicide) is treated the same as ordinary murder. Filicide cases are also increasing, averaging about 40 cases per year. Consequently, calls for tougher penalties for filicide continue to be raised.

In April, in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, a mother struggling with financial difficulties was arrested for strangling her two sons, a third grader and a second grader in elementary school. After separating from her husband, she had been raising the two boys alone. She had been living on the salary sent by her husband, but when he was fired from his job, she reportedly became anxious about the possibility of her residence being seized.

After committing the crime and attempting suicide but failing, the woman surrendered to the police and was urgently detained. During the prosecution investigation, she reportedly stated that she committed the crime thinking that if she and her children died, her husband and in-laws would suffer. The woman, charged with murder, is awaiting the first trial verdict scheduled for the afternoon of the 20th. The prosecution has demanded a life sentence for her.

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