Woman, boyfriend arrested over death of woman's daughter six years ago
Published: 18 Mar. 2026, 15:09
Updated: 18 Mar. 2026, 19:24
![A police logo [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/03/18/33a32b58-7c43-4748-a6d0-d03c7a860c16.jpg)
A police logo [YONHAP]
A woman and her boyfriend have been caught six years after allegedly killing her daughter and abandoning the body. The crime only came to light when authorities found out that the dead child did not attend school even after reaching the legal age for school.
Authorities arrested the two suspects on Monday on charges of child abuse resulting in death and abandonment of a corpse under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes, according to the Siheung police precinct in Gyeonggi on Wednesday.
Police also applied for arrest warrants on Wednesday.
The authorities suspect the mother abused her daughter, who was born in 2017, which resulted in the child's death in February 2020. Investigators also suspect the boyfriend — who was not biologically related to the child — helped to dispose of the body in a wooded area in Ansan, Gyeonggi.
Police launched the investigation after receiving a report from an elementary school that the child had reached enrollment age but had not attended school. The police said the mother confessed to the crime when questioned about the child’s whereabouts.
Police initially arrested the mother on child abuse charges but upgraded the charge to child abuse resulting in death after confirming details. Investigators also began searching a wooded area in Ansan, where the mother told the police she buried the body.
The crime took place before the introduction of the birth notification system, which requires medical institutions to submit birth records directly to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. The system took effect in July 2024 following revisions to the Act on Registration of Family Relations.
In 2022, the government tracked 2,123 unregistered children based on an audit by the Board of Audit and Inspection. Authorities asked police to investigate suspected deaths among children whose births were recorded at medical institutions but never officially registered.
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 SON SUNG-BAE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)