SEOUL – Nearly 100 children in South Korea died from abuse over the past five years, most at the hands of their own parents, according to police data covering tens of thousands of reported cases nationwide.
A total of 63,575 child abuse cases were recorded during the five-year period, resulting in 96 deaths, according to data from the National Police Agency released Thursday by Rep. Chung Choon-saeng of the minor Rebuilding Korea Party.
In 2025 alone, 14,211 cases were recorded, up from 11,572 in 2021, the data showed.
Most abuse occurred inside the home and was committed by the victim’s own parents. Between 76.8 percent and 80 percent of cases each year involved birth parents, while stepparents accounted for about 2 to 3 percent and grandparents about 2 percent.
However, the true toll may be higher than police figures suggest.
According to a 2025 report by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 207 children are suspected to have died as a result of abuse, a figure that exceeds police records.
In 2024, for instance, police data recorded 17 deaths linked to abuse, while the ministry’s broader review suggested as many as 30.
The ministry’s estimate combines police statistics with suspected abuse-related deaths identified through media reports and other sources.
One of the most disturbing recent cases occurred on Oct. 22, when a boy just 133 days old died after repeated abuse by his mother and alleged negligence by his father.
The infant, identified by the pseudonym “Haden,” was found to have suffered 23 bone fractures and brain hemorrhaging before dying.
Prosecutors believe the parents abused the infant for about 10 days leading up to his death, though an acquaintance of the couple claimed the abuse had begun when the child was just 50 days old.
Both suspects were arrested and are awaiting trial, with the mother facing charges of murder through child abuse and the father charged with neglect related to child abuse.
Surveillance footage from the home reportedly showed severe abuse, including the mother stepping on the infant and throwing him onto a bed. Both parents admitted to abuse, but denied intent to kill.
Chung said the case demonstrates the need for tougher legal penalties.
“The Haden incident is something that should never have happened,” Chung said. “I plan to propose revisions to the law to impose much harsher punishment for child abuse resulting in murder, manslaughter or injury.”
Under current law, murder through child abuse is punishable by at least seven years in prison, or five years if prosecutors cannot prove intent to kill, with sentences that can extend to life imprisonment or the death penalty.
However, Korean law imposes heavier penalties for murdering one’s parents or grandparents, while no equivalent provision exists for the killing of one’s own children.
Meanwhile, a parliamentary petition calling for tougher punishment for child abuse had gathered more than 62,000 signatures as of Thursday morning.
ANN/The Korea Herald
