The Supreme Prosecutors' Office and Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]
The Supreme Prosecutors' Office and Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in Seocho-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap]

Prosecutors investigating a woman in her 20s who abandoned her newborn in a trash can in a commercial building restroom registered the infant's birth on their own authority, enabling the child to receive prompt and lawful medical treatment. Prosecutors said they also sought to strip the woman of parental rights when they indicted her, cutting off any further risk to the child.

The Second Women and Children Investigation Unit of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office — led by chief prosecutor Park Ji-na — indicted the woman, identified only as A, on charges of attempted child abuse murder on May 14 and registered the infant's birth, the office announced Wednesday. On Thursday, prosecutors filed a petition to strip A of parental rights and requested that the head of a child welfare facility be appointed as the infant's legal guardian.

According to prosecutors, A gave birth in a restroom at her workplace on April 3, then placed the newborn in a trash can, covered it with tissue paper and attempted to kill the child. A colleague discovered the infant before the attempt could be completed.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, which handled the initial investigation, transferred A to prosecutors while she remained in detention. Prosecutors consulted Seoul National University Hospital on the infant's condition and the causes of the life-threatening risk, analyzed additional medical records, medical opinions and emergency response logs, and conducted supplementary investigation before indicting A.

The infant had been rushed to Seoul National University Hospital in cardiac arrest. The child recovered through cardiopulmonary resuscitation and other emergency treatment and received intensive care in the neonatal intensive care unit. The infant required a tracheotomy. On April 29, prosecutors filed an "interim measure" with the court on their own authority, seeking a suspension of A's parental rights to expedite the consent process for the procedure.

Under the Child Abuse Punishment Act, prosecutors may file an interim measure with the court — either on their own authority or at the request of a judicial police officer or probation officer — to restrict or suspend the exercise of parental or guardian rights when there is reason to believe a child abuse offense may recur. Seoul Family Court issued the parental rights suspension order on April 30.

With the suspension in place, Seoul National University Hospital obtained consent from the infant's maternal grandfather, who had been appointed temporary guardian, and performed the necessary tracheotomy promptly and lawfully. Prosecutors and the hospital's child protection committee subsequently held a child abuse case management meeting. The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office established a joint child abuse response framework with Seoul National University Hospital's child protection committee in September 2024.

During the case management meeting, prosecutors confirmed that the infant's unregistered birth status was hampering protection and support procedures, and proceeded to register the birth. The registration now allows the child to access medical care, financial services, digital and telecommunications services, child allowances and other welfare benefits, prosecutors said.

Through the case management meeting, prosecutors determined that A had serious grounds disqualifying her from exercising parental rights and filed a petition for termination of those rights, requesting that the head of a Seoul child welfare facility where the infant is now placed be appointed as legal guardian. Prosecutors also filed an alternative petition to restrict parental and custody rights, and requested a preliminary disposition under the Family Litigation Act in anticipation of the interim measure's expiration.

"We will do our utmost to maintain the prosecution so that a sentence commensurate with the crime is handed down in the ongoing child abuse trial, and will faithfully pursue the parental rights termination case to protect the child," a Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office official said. "Going forward, we will continue to work closely with relevant agencies from the perspective of the best interests of the child and devote ourselves to public interest activities aimed at protecting child victims."


bell@heraldcorp.com