Childcare Center CCTV Video Tampering Punishable by Up to 5 Years Imprisonment Passed by National Assembly... Infant Homicide Also Faces 'Maximum Death Penalty' (Summary)

Processing 55 Agenda Items Including the Amendment to Abolish Infanticide Crime in the Criminal Act

The amendment to the Infant Care Act, which stipulates that damaging CCTV footage from daycare centers can result in a maximum prison sentence of five years, passed the National Assembly plenary session on the 18th. An amendment to the Criminal Act, which strengthens penalties to allow infant murderers and abandoners to be sentenced to the death penalty like general murderers and abandoners, was also approved.

On the afternoon of the 18th, the National Assembly held a plenary session and passed a total of 55 bills, including these.

In particular, the 'Fundraising Contribution Bill,' which requires members of the National Assembly to contribute 3% of their allowances as donations to support flood damage relief, and the appointment consent bills for Supreme Court Justice candidates Kwon Young-jun and Seo Kyung-hwan also passed the plenary session that day. Among the 265 members present, the vote for candidate Kwon was 215 in favor, 35 against, and 15 abstentions; for candidate Seo, 243 in favor, 15 against, and 7 abstentions, all of which were approved.

Regarding the Criminal Act amendment, which gained momentum following a series of related crimes such as the recent 'Suwon Refrigerator Infant Corpse Case,' the crimes of infant murder and infant abandonment were abolished, and from now on, infant murderers and abandoners will be subject to the punishment provisions for general murder and abandonment, respectively.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The existing law punished infant murder or abandonment more leniently than general murder. Under the Criminal Act, general murder carries the death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for five years or more; parricide carries the death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for seven years or more; whereas infant murder was punishable by 'imprisonment for up to 10 years.' Also, general abandonment and parricide abandonment 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 was limited to 'imprisonment for up to two years or a fine of up to 3 million won.'

The infant murder provision was created based on the chaotic public security situation after liberation and the extreme hardship around the Korean War, and it has been continuously criticized as unsuitable for the changed times. Additionally, while parricide is punished severely, treating infant murder lightly may violate the constitutional principle of equality and has been criticized for unjustly disregarding the right to life of infants. The amendment is scheduled to take effect six months after promulgation.

The amendment to the Infant Care Act, which punishes damaging daycare center CCTV footage with up to five years in prison, also passed. The amendment prohibits the alteration or damage of daycare center CCTV footage and stipulates that violators will be subject to imprisonment for up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million won. The amendment also includes provisions allowing infants from grandparent-headed households to have priority access to daycare centers. The definition of infants changed from 'children under six years old before school age' to 'children under seven years old before school age.'

The Fundraising Contribution Bill to support flood damage relief was also approved. This bill allows members of the National Assembly to collect a certain amount of money to be used for flood recovery purposes. Speaker Kim Jin-pyo expressed deep condolences to the victims and their families and urged both ruling and opposition parties, centered on relevant standing committees, to thoroughly investigate the causes of the disaster and management responsibilities.

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