Woman Who Hid Stillborn Baby in Freezer to Conceal Affair Receives Suspended Sentence on Appeal

A woman in her 30s who had naturalized as a Korean citizen, and who had abandoned the body of her stillborn baby in a freezer to prevent her extramarital affair from being discovered, has been released after receiving a suspended sentence on appeal.

The Cheongju District Court's Criminal Appeals Division 1-2 overturned the original sentence of one year and six months in prison for the defendant, identified as A, and sentenced her to one year and six months in prison, suspended for two years, on Wednesday (June 24).

Presiding Judge Kwon No-eul stated, "It appears the defendant committed the crime to evade responsibility out of fear that her affair would be exposed."

The judge further explained the reason for the reduced sentence, saying, "However, we considered that the defendant is reflecting on her actions, has spent a significant period in custody, and has sent the body to her home country of Vietnam for burial after the investigation concluded."

A was indicted on charges of abandoning a corpse after giving birth to a stillborn baby alone in the bathroom of her home in Jeungpyeong-eup, Jeungpyeong-gun, North Chungcheong Province, on January 15, 2024, and subsequently hiding the body in the freezer.

The fetus was estimated to be between 21 and 25 weeks of gestation.

The body was discovered a month later by her mother-in-law while she was cleaning the refrigerator.

Following the discovery, her husband, B, buried the body in a nearby vacant lot but turned himself in to the police the next day, leading to the exposure of the crime.

During the police investigation at the time, A reportedly stated, "I hid the baby in the freezer because I was afraid my husband, with whom I had been sleeping in separate rooms for a long time, would find out about my affair, and I intended to take the baby to my hometown to hold a funeral."

Her husband, B, who was complicit in the crime, received a sentence of one year in prison, suspended for two years, in the first trial.

That sentence has been finalized.

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