South Korean doctors who placed newborn baby in freezer jailed for murder; mum wanted to abort at 36 weeks

A South Korean court on Wednesday (4 March) jailed two doctors for killing a baby they had delivered at 36 weeks of pregnancy and left to die in a freezer, according to multiple reports. 

The infant's mother, surnamed Kwon, sparked public outrage in 2024 when she posted a YouTube video claiming she had undergone an abortion at 36 weeks gestation, a stage when babies can survive outside the womb. 

The video went viral, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare asked the police to investigate the case. 

In January this year, prosecutors charged Kwon and her doctors with premeditated murder. 

They sought 6 years' jail for Kwon and her surgeon, and 10 years' jail for the hospital director. 

Prosecutors said that after the baby was born alive via Caesarean section, the surgeon and the hospital's director put the infant into a freezer, where it died. 

The hospital staff then falsified Kwon's medical records to make it look like she had a stillbirth, prosecutors said. 

During the trial, the surgeon and the hospital director admitted to killing the baby. 

Prosecutors told the court that the hospital received a total of 1.4 billion won (S$1.2 million) to perform abortions on more than 500 patients who had been introduced to the hospital through brokers.

The Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday jailed the surgeon for four years and the hospital director for six years, along with a fine of 1.5 million won. 

They were taken into custody immediately after the judge read out the verdict. 

Meanwhile, Kwon was given a three-year suspended jail term with a five-year probation period. 

syarifahsn@asiaone.com