By Park Si-soo
A total of 113 children died from abuse over the past five years, welfare ministry data showed Wednesday. Thirty children died last year alone.
Rep. Nam In-soon of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea revealed the data, saying, “Tougher punishment is needed to rein in the rise of violence against children.”
Fewer than 20 children died each year between 2013 and 2015 (17 in 2013, 14 in 2014 and 16 in 2015), but the number jumped to 36 in 2016.
Nearly 34,200 cases of child abuse were reported last year and 21,524 were confirmed to have broken the law, up 15.3 percent and 15.1 percent respectively from 2016.
Parents made up 77.2 percent of offenders, followed by employees at child care centers (14.2 percent) and relatives (4.8 percent).
By type of abuse, 50.9 percent were a “combination” of physical and mental maltreatment, followed by mental abuse (20.2 percent), physical abuse (14 percent), abandonment (12 percent) and sexual abuse (2.9 percent).
“The situation is getting worse,” said Nam. “This data merely shows the tip of the iceberg. Broader research is needed to draw a comprehensive picture of the situation and to understand what went wrong.”