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Day care teacher, director referred to prosecution over choking death of 2-year-old

Published: 11 Aug. 2025, 17:31

An ambulance [YONHAP]

A day care teacher and director in Gimpo, Gyeonggi, have been referred to prosecutors over the choking death of a 2-year-old boy who was eating baeksseolgi, a steamed rice cake.

Police said Monday they referred the pair without detention on charges of involuntary manslaughter.

Police said the teacher gave the kid the rice cake during snack time at around 3:10 p.m. on May 22. The boy died after the rice cake became lodged in his throat.

The director, as the operator of the day care center, is accused of failing to properly supervise staff, leading to the fatal incident.

The teacher had cut the rice cake into pieces before serving it to the children. The teacher attempted the Heimlich maneuver when the boy began choking, but he lost consciousness and was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy by the National Forensic Service concluded that the child likely died from choking that blocked the airway.

While CCTV footage showed staff performing emergency measures, police determined that both the teacher and director were negligent, citing a failure to take sufficient precautions when giving the rice cake to the boy.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom staff.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]