Where Are Newborns... Gyeongnam Police Agency Investigates 10 Cases of Unreported Births

Most Cases Except Geoje Infant Murder Involve Baby Box Abandonment

The Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency is conducting an investigation into children who have birth records but whose births have not been officially registered.

As of 2 p.m. on the 3rd, the provincial police agency announced that it had received 10 investigation requests related to so-called 'ghost children' cases from 18 cities and counties.

According to the provincial police agency, 6 of these cases were confirmed to involve children abandoned in baby boxes.

The police reported that all the biological mothers received counseling at the baby box operating institutions and properly completed documents such as parental rights relinquishment forms and adoption consent forms before abandoning the children, so no charges were filed.

Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

In 3 cases, the whereabouts of the biological mothers are unknown or they cannot be contacted, so efforts to reach them and determine their location are ongoing.

The remaining case involves the murder and abandonment of a 5-day-old infant in Geoje, and aside from this case, no criminal suspicions have been found so far.

Since the 28th of last month, Gyeongnam Province has been conducting a full survey of 118 children who have only temporary newborn numbers and whose births have not been registered.

As of the 2nd, investigations on 20 children have been completed, confirming 11 cases including 7 with birth registrations, 2 adoptions, and 2 deaths after birth registration.

The province has requested police investigations into unidentified children and plans to request investigations from the provincial police agency and local police stations as soon as the situation is understood through home visits by the 7th.

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