7-Month-Old Starves to Death While Parents Visited PC Bangs, Yet Childcare Subsidies Kept Flowing

It has been revealed that a couple in their 20s, indicted for leaving their 7-month-old baby unattended and causing the infant's death in Daejeon, steadily received over 12 million won in childcare support funds from the government and the Daejeon metropolitan government.

According to data submitted by Daejeon City and other entities to Democratic Party lawmaker Park Jung-hyun of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee today (Aug. 18), welfare benefits paid out for the 7-month-old infant, identified as A, who died of malnutrition, totaled 1.217 million won from last December to last month.

By category, the funds included 8 million won in parental allowances, 2 million won in First Meeting Vouchers, 1.05 million won in other childcare support funds, 820,000 won in child allowances, and 300,000 won in childbirth encouragement grants.

Even last month, when baby A passed away, 1.105 million won—consisting of a 1 million won parental allowance and a 105,000-won child allowance—was listed among the disbursed payments.

Previously, the Daejeon District Prosecution Service formally indicted baby A's parents, both in their 20s, on charges including child abuse resulting in death on the 31st of last month.

Investigations showed that the couple had left their newborn son unattended for extended periods while engrossed in playing games at PC bangs.

Neither parent had a regular job, but they reportedly had no medical history of mental illness.

At the time of death, baby A weighed around 3 kilograms, less than half the standard weight of about 8 kilograms for a 7-month-old boy. An autopsy by the National Forensic Service indicated that the cause of death was malnutrition and dehydration.

However, over the past seven months, no warning signs regarding baby A were detected by the government, local autonomous bodies, or the police.

According to Daejeon City's investigation, baby A was not included among the target recipients of the e-Child Happiness Support System and the Welfare Blind Spot Discovery System.

These systems are administrative data-driven mechanisms designed to screen out vulnerable children and families using indicators such as missed health checkups, utility suspensions (electricity and water), and overdue health insurance premiums, prompting public officials to conduct direct verifications.

An official from Daejeon City stated, "It was confirmed that the child had undergone infant health checkups and received one mandatory vaccination, so no particular red flags were identified through the system."

According to police investigations, there was no prior history of child abuse or domestic violence reports filed in connection with baby A and the parents.

However, regarding the usage of the allowances, investigations indicated that a portion may have been spent on PC bangs rather than child-rearing.

A police official explained, "While transaction histories for PC bang usage and game payments were found in the suspects' accounts where the government subsidies were deposited, other income unrelated to government support was also identified, making it difficult to definitively conclude that government subsidies were misappropriated for PC bang expenses."

As allowances were paid out without interruption from the child's birth until death, loopholes in verifying the child's safety have been exposed. Consequently, arguments are rising that the current childcare allowance payment procedures should be strengthened with mechanisms to directly verify a child's survival and safety.

The civic group Free Haeduns has urged, in the wake of baby A's case, that mandatory infant health checkups (a total of four times) for infants aged 14 days to under 24 months be stipulated as a legal obligation for guardians, with child allowances temporarily suspended if checkups are missed.

An official from Free Haeduns explained, "Rather than spending new budget to create a system for total enumeration, we should strengthen infant safety verification by utilizing infant health checkups, which already boast high compliance rates. We must respond in three stages: mobile and wired guidance, home visits and face-to-face verification by responsible personnel, and temporary suspension of child allowances upon ultimate non-compliance."

A petition requesting the establishment of regulations containing these measures is currently undergoing a national consent process at the National Assembly.

Lawmaker Park Jung-hyun stated, "This incident should not simply end with holding the parents accountable. We must take this death as an opportunity to seriously contemplate a child welfare system where the child is made visible first."

(Photo provided by Getty Images, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.