South Korea amends ‘ghost babies’ law to prevent abuse, but foreign children excluded
- Hospitals will have to report all births to the government after the case of two infants found in a freezer exposed the undocumented children issue
- Activists say the amendment will ‘prevent the abuse of babies’, but it only applies to citizens – leaving the children of foreigners vulnerable
The case last month of a woman in her 30s accused by police of strangling her two infants in 2018 and 2019, then storing their bodies in her home freezer, sparked public outrage and prompted lawmakers across the aisle to back a revision to the Act on Registration of Family Relations, in a rare example of unity on Friday last week.
The amendment to the law means that from next year, hospitals will be required to report the births of all South Korean children to the government within 14 days.
We welcome the new law as it would help prevent the abuse of babies whose births are not officially registered
Existing rules place the onus on South Korean parents to register their child with the government within one month of birth. The regulation is enforced with a meagre fine of no more than 50,000 won (US$38.20).
“We welcome the new law as it would help prevent the abuse of babies whose births are not officially registered,” Kim Min-jung, head of the Korean Unwed Mothers’ Families Association, told This Week in Asia.
However, she said the law did not go far enough, as it would continue to apply only to citizens. Kim said she hoped authorities would strengthen the legislation in future to include babies born to all foreigners living in the country, even illegal immigrants.
Excluding foreign children meant another loophole still existed, exposing them to the risk of abuse, the Hankyoreh Daily newspaper reported.