Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Woman sentenced to 7 years in prison for killing 3-month-old son
This file photo shows the Jeju District Court on Jeju Island. A woman was sentenced to seven years in prison Wednesday for killing her three-month-old in 2020. Korea Times file
By Jung Min-ho
A woman was sentenced to seven years in prison Wednesday for killing her three-month-old son on Jeju Island four years ago.
The Jeju District Court convicted the woman, 27, of charges including murdering the infant and abandoning his body near a harbor at Seogwipo in southern Jeju on Dec. 23, 2020.
“The accused forsook her responsibility to bring up and protect the victim … The victim, who was incapable of protecting himself, must have suffered excruciating pain before his death,” the court said.
According to the prosecution, she left her house after covering the baby’s whole face with a blanket in an apparent attempt to kill him. He was dead by the time she returned home six hours later. She then put the body in the bag, which she eventually disposed of at a tetrapod structure (wave-dissipating concrete blocks) some 1.3 kilometers from her place of residence.
The investigation was prompted by a report filed by Seogwipo officials who were looking into the baby’s vaccination records.