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Court reduces sentence of mother who killed twin infant daughters, cites postpartum depression and domestic abuse

Published: 16 Sep. 2025, 19:31

[KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

A mother convicted of killing her seven-month-old twin daughters received a reduced sentence on appeal after the court acknowledged her struggles with postpartum depression and domestic violence.

The Gwangju High Court overturned the original eight-year prison sentence and instead sentenced the 43-year-old defendant to five years in prison on Tuesday.

“The blame cannot rest solely with the defendant,” the court said in its ruling. “Had she received stronger support from her family and society, this tragedy might have been prevented.”

The mother was indicted for suffocating her twin daughters at around 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 18 last year in her home in Ungcheon-dong, Yeosu, South Jeolla.

She had conceived the twins through in vitro fertilization after two miscarriages, and gave birth prematurely. She cared for the twins alone, regularly traveling between a hospital in Seoul — where the infants were hospitalized — and her home in Yeosu, making the trip more than twice a week. She had no mother or sisters to assist her with childcare.

The mother was diagnosed with depression stemming from childcare-related stress and domestic violence, but was unable to take prescribed medication due to side effects.

The appeals court considered several mitigating factors in its decision: the mother turned herself in to police after the crime, and her husband admitted in court to regularly abusing her and neglecting his parental responsibilities.

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.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]