'40 children die every year because of abuse'

gettyimagesbank

Gov't faces calls to take preemptive action to protect children

By Jun Ji-hye

About 40 children die every year in Korea due to child abuse committed mostly by their parents.

According to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Monday, the number of children who died from child abuse stood at 38 in 2017, 28 in 2018, 42 in 2019, 43 in 2020 and 40 in 2021, with its average tallied at about 38.

By age group, most victims were under the age of three, accounting for 65 percent.

Most deaths were attributed to parents, with the ratio standing at 68.5 percent of the total, followed by 9.3 percent committed by other relatives.

The latest statistics came amid a public outcry over a recent abuse case allegedly committed by a stepmother and a biological father resulting in the death of their 12-year-old son.

The boy died at a hospital on Feb. 7 after being found unconscious with what appeared to be bruises all over his body at his home in Incheon.

The couple were arrested, on Feb. 10, with the stepmother charged with child abuse homicide and the father with habitual child abuse.

The stepmother, left, and biological father of a 12-year-old child who was allegedly abused to death by them arrive at Incheon District Court, Feb. 10, to attend a court decision over the issue of an arrest warrant. The Incheon Metropolitan Police Agency arrested them later that day following the issuance of the warrant by the court. Yonhap

The ministry's statistics showed that there were a total of 37,605 child abuse cases in 2021. Among those, 31,486 cases, or 83.7 percent, were committed by parents.

However, 84.6 percent of the victims had to return to their homes, according to the country's Child Welfare Act stipulating that authorities should support children's prompt return to their homes when they are separated from their parents.

This measure without follow-up management has led to several cases where children returned home and suffered repeated abuse by their parents.

Experts said the country's system should be improved to root out continued child abuse cases, claiming that authorities should monitor the issue preemptively, rather than dealing with the cases only after they occur.

“The key is early detection of possible child abuse cases,” said Ryu Kyeong-hee who oversees child abuse issues at the National Center for the Rights of the Child. “Authorities should be able to check whether children are growing up well even on ordinary days.”

Experts also cited a lack of government officials and institutions specialized in child abuse as one of the major problems for the continued reports of the cases.

According to the welfare ministry, 852 government officials across the country were tasked with coping with the issue as of last year, while the number of specialized institutions was tallied at 85.

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea already advised the ministry to increase these numbers, citing that abuse cases have not been effectively prevented so far.

In response, the ministry is planning to increase the number of specialized institutions to 120 by the end of 2025.

“We will also try to strengthen the specialty of related government officials and improve their work environment,” a ministry official said.