A social shock case has arisen in South Korea after a court found a young woman and two doctors guilty of murder for jointly performing an abortion on a fetus at 36 weeks gestation. When the infant survived, they froze the baby until it died. This case has triggered public debate over legal loopholes in the country's abortion laws.
A South Korean court sentenced a woman identified as "Kwon," in her early 20s, along with a surgeon and a hospital director, on charges of jointly murdering a newborn infant. The case drew public attention in 2024 after Kwon posted a YouTube video recounting her abortion experience at 36 weeks' pregnancy, leading to investigation by the Ministry of Health and criminal prosecution.
Prosecutors stated that during the cesarean abortion, the infant was born alive and opened its eyes, but the hospital director and surgeon placed the baby in a freezer until it died. Hospital staff then falsified medical records, claiming the infant was stillborn to cover up the crime.
The judge sentenced the 81-year-old hospital director named "Yoon" to six years in prison, the 62-year-old surgeon named "Shim" to four years, and Ms. Kwon, the infant's mother, to three years in prison with the sentence suspended.
The court noted that although Kwon claimed ignorance of the infant's killing method, evidence showed she was informed by doctors that the fetus was healthy, heard the heartbeat via ultrasound, and knew that a cesarean at this stage would result in survival. Nevertheless, the court showed leniency by suspending her sentence, considering her social lack of support and legal loopholes.
Investigations also revealed the shocking fact that this hospital received over 1.4 billion won (approximately 30 million baht) from performing abortions for more than 500 patients, using a broker system to refer clients, similar to Kwon's case.
Kwon testified that she only realized she was pregnant at seven months and chose abortion because she had no stable income and feared birth defects due to her heavy drinking and smoking throughout the pregnancy.
This case reflects a major issue in South Korea following the Constitutional Court's repeal of the abortion ban in 2019, effective from 2021. However, the National Assembly has yet to agree on new abortion legislation due to conflicting views among political and religious groups.
This "legal vacuum" means there are currently no clear guidelines on the permissible gestational age for abortion, leading to late-term abortions that can result in severe outcomes such as murder, as seen in this case.