Mother detained by police after allegedly abandoning newborn, leading to his death
Published: 08 Apr. 2026, 17:12
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An image of a statue of Justitia, the Roman goddess of justice [KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]
A mother has been indicted and detained for allegedly abandoning her newborn son in a vegetable garden a day after giving birth, which led to the infant’s death, prosecutors said on Wednesday.
The mother was indicted on charges of child abuse resulting in death, according to the Daegu District Prosecutors’ Office.
The mother is accused of giving birth to a boy on Jan. 9 and abandoning the child the following day in a garden next to a house in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang, which resulted in his death.
The case came to light about a month later, on Feb. 21, after a resident discovered the body, which was wrapped in cloth, and reported it to authorities.
The mother allegedly admitted to the crime, stating, “I could not raise the child due to various circumstances.”
Investigators initially applied a murder charge, according to the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency. However, considering the severity of the crime, the charge was later changed to child abuse resulting in death before the case was forwarded to prosecutors.
Under the Criminal Act, murder is punishable by a prison term of at least five years, life imprisonment or death. In contrast, child abuse resulting in death carries harsher penalties, from a minimum sentence of seven years in prison to life imprisonment or death.
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]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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