South Korean police probing 193 unregistered baby cases, 11 confirmed dead

SEOUL - South Korean National Police Agency is investigating 193 cases of babies not registered at birth, officials said Tuesday, amid a string of child abuse cases, including the shocking discovery of two dead newborns being kept in a refrigerator.

Police have been expanding its probe into cases of "ghost babies" who have medical records of birth but no official birth registration, as the government launched a nationwide campaign to check the well-being of more than 2,000 unregistered babies, according to Yonhap news agency.

The campaign came after a mother was apprehended last month on charges of strangling her two newborns, in 2018 and 2019, respectively, and secretly keeping their bodies in a refrigerator in her apartment in Suwon, 30 kilometres south of Seoul.

Officials said the police agency has received 209 ghost baby cases so far, and 193 of them are currently under investigation. Of them, 20 have been located, and an investigation is underway to locate 178 others, they said.

Eleven of them have been confirmed dead, seven without any foul play. The remaining four cases are under investigation for suspected crimes.

Of the 20 children whose whereabouts have been located, nine were alive and found to be properly cared for, resulting in their cases being dismissed, officials said. - BERNAMA-YONHAP