Mother who abandoned dead infant inside kimchi container for 3 years sentenced to 7.5 years in jail
By Bryan Ke
June 16, 2023
A Korean mother arrested late last year for abandoning the dead body of her infant daughter inside a plastic kimchi container was sentenced to prison on Thursday.
Key details: The 35-year-old mother, identified only by her surname Seo, was handed her sentence of seven years and six months in prison at the Uijeongbu District Court in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, on Thursday.
A presiding judge who handed the sentence reportedly said in court that Seo “doesn’t appear to feel sincere remorse” for the “heinous” crime she committed by leaving the corpse of her 15-month-old daughter inside the container.
About the charges: Seo was charged following her December 2022 arrest with abandoning and concealing the body of her daughter as well as violating the child welfare law by having left her daughter alone inside their home in Pyeongtaek, another city in Gyeonggi Province, on around 70 occasions from August 2019 to early 2020.
Seo and her ex-husband Choi, who was also arrested, were also charged with illegally accepting child support given by the government after the death of their child. They reportedly stated that the infant was living with a relative in the city of Pocheon.
How the infant was found: In October 2022, authorities discovered the child’s corpse after the city government of Pocheon began looking into the living conditions, health and safety of children aged 3 and younger.
Seo and Choi’s child was eventually found inside a kimchi container hidden inside a suitcase on the rooftop of Choi’s parents’ apartment building in Seodaemun District, Seoul.
Authorities learned that the infant died due to negligence in January 2020. Choi was accused of placing the infant’s body inside the container.
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