A court in Seoul has sentenced two doctors to prison for murdering a baby delivered at 36 weeks’ gestation and left in a freezer.
A spokesperson for the Seoul Central District Court confirmed on Wednesday that the doctors were found guilty of murder.
The head of the hospital where the procedure took place was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay 1.15 billion won (approximately $780,000) in restitution. The doctor who carried out the caesarean section received a four-year jail term.
The infant’s mother, identified by her surname Kwon and said to be in her late 20s, was convicted as an accomplice to murder and handed a three-year suspended sentence.
The case first drew national attention in 2024 after Kwon posted a video on YouTube claiming she had undergone an abortion at 36 weeks — a stage of pregnancy when most babies can survive outside the womb. Although the video was later deleted, screenshots circulated widely online, triggering a police investigation into her and the medical team involved.
According to the court, the two doctors arranged to deliver the baby by caesarean section before placing the infant in a freezer, leading to the child’s death. In its verdict, the court said the baby died in cold storage without experiencing life outside the womb, describing the circumstances as grave and deeply troubling.
The judges said Kwon’s lighter sentence reflected consideration of the social and economic challenges women may face during pregnancy, according to reports by Yonhap News Agency.
The case has also reignited debate over abortion laws in South Korea. Until 2019, the country broadly criminalised abortion except in cases of rape, incest, or risk to the mother’s health.
That year, the Constitutional Court of Korea ruled that the decades-old ban violated the constitution and ordered that the law be revised.
The court recommended allowing abortions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy and directed lawmakers to amend the law by the end of 2020. However, due to parliamentary deadlock, new regulations have yet to be enacted, leaving what observers describe as a legal vacuum surrounding abortion in the country.
The two convicted doctors have not been publicly named.
