[Anchor]

A 17-month-old baby was found in cardiac arrest in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and taken to a hospital, but ultimately died. The child was severely emaciated and suffering from malnutrition. Police have arrested the father after confirming circumstances of neglect, including leaving his young daughter home alone while going to work.

Reporter Im Jihyeon has the details.

[Reporter]

Around 10 p.m. the day before yesterday, October 28, in front of a residence in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

Several ambulances and police cars are parked.

Emergency responders were dispatched after receiving a report from the child's father that his 17-month-old daughter was not breathing.

The child was transported to the hospital in cardiac arrest and eventually died.

While no physical trauma was found on the body, the child was severely emaciated, and the National Forensic Service provided a verbal opinion from the autopsy that the cause appeared to be malnutrition.

It was found that the father of the deceased child went to work without properly feeding the infant for about 10 days.

Having confirmed circumstances of neglect, the police arrested the biological father, a man in his 30s identified as A, on charges of child abuse resulting in death.

[Father A: (Were you unaware that the child could die?) I am sorry.]

Father A reportedly stated to the police, "My wife left the house earlier this month, and with no one to look after the child, I left her alone and went to work."

Investigations also revealed that for about the past 10 days, A only fed his daughter formula twice a day—before going to work and after returning home.

Police concluded that the father neglected the child instead of providing solid food, which a typical 17-month-old infant should be transitioning to instead of just formula.

The local government stated that A had no prior reports of child abuse and was not a recipient of basic livelihood security benefits.

[Resident: I never even imagined there was a child in that household because I had not once seen them out together. There was a time when the couple had a fight. I woke up from sleep inside my house because they were arguing so violently.]

Police are conducting a forensic analysis of A's mobile phone while questioning him to determine the reasons why he failed to properly care for the child.

(VJ: Lee Joon, Noh Jae-min | Video Editing: Kim Jong-mi)