Preventing 'Unregistered Birth Report Children'... 'Birth Notification Act' Approved in National Assembly Plenary Session

Bill Passed with 266 Votes in Favor
Triggered After 'Suwon Infant Corpse' Incident
'Protected Birth System' Pending in Welfare Committee

A bill to introduce a birth notification system to prevent 'unregistered birth babies' whose parents have not reported their birth has passed the National Assembly.

On the afternoon of the 30th, the National Assembly held a plenary session and voted on the "Amendment to the Act on Family Relations Registration, etc." which centers on the introduction of the birth notification system, and it was approved with 266 out of 267 members present voting in favor.

On the 21st, the partial amendment bill to the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes was passed at the plenary session held at the National Assembly. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The amendment stipulates that medical staff must notify the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) within 14 days after recording birth information in the medical records, and HIRA will register the birth with the local government electronically.

The head of the city, town, or township who receives the birth notification must check whether the birth has been reported, and if the birth report is not made within the one-month reporting period, the person obligated to report must be requested to submit the birth report within 7 days. If the birth report is not made, the birth must be recorded ex officio in the registry with the approval of the supervisory court.

The birth notification system was actively discussed following the 'unregistered birth infant murder' case where two infant corpses were found in a refrigerator in an apartment in Suwon, Gyeonggi-do on the 21st. During a regular audit of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Board of Audit and Inspection identified 2,236 unregistered infants who were born in medical institutions from 2015 to last year but whose births were not reported, and in a sample survey of 23 (1%) of them, it was revealed that at least 3 had died and 1 was suspected of abandonment.

Meanwhile, the amendment including the introduction of the birth notification system passed the full meeting of the Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 29th. However, the 'protected birth system' to prevent out-of-hospital births, which is a side effect of the birth reporting system, remains in the Health and Welfare Committee, the relevant standing committee.

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