Infanticide and Abandonment Punishments Strengthened to Levels of General Murder and Abandonment Crimes... Passed by the Legislation and Judiciary Committee

Scheduled for National Assembly plenary session on the 18th

The amendment to the Criminal Act, which strengthens the penalties for infant murder and abandonment to the level of general murder and abandonment offenses, passed the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee on the 17th.

On the same day, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee held a plenary session at the National Assembly and approved the amendment containing these provisions.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Under the current law, cases of infant murder or abandonment are punished more leniently than general murder charges. While general murder under the Criminal Act is punishable by death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for five years or more, and murder of a lineal ascendant is punishable by death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for seven years or more, infant murder is stipulated to be punishable by "imprisonment for up to 10 years."

Also, general abandonment and abandonment of a lineal ascendant are punishable by "imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 5 million won" and "imprisonment for up to 10 years or a fine of up to 15 million won," respectively, but infant abandonment is limited to "imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to 3 million won."

However, the infant murder provision was created based on the chaotic public security situation after liberation and the extreme hardship around the time of the Korean War, and it has been continuously pointed out that it does not fit the changed times.

Criticism has arisen that while murder of a lineal ascendant is punished severely, treating infant murder lightly may violate the constitutional principle of equality and unjustly disregard the right to life of infants. Recently, with related crimes such as the "Suwon Refrigerator Infant Corpse Case" occurring one after another, legislation has gained momentum.

Accordingly, the amendment abolishes the offenses of infant murder and infant abandonment, and going forward, infant murder and abandonment will be subject to the punishment provisions for general murder and abandonment offenses, respectively.

This amendment is expected to be processed at the plenary session of the National Assembly on the 18th.

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