She was a healthy and happy child; she smiled from ear to ear in front of the camera, showing off her chubby cheeks and lovely eyes full of laughter. However, within months, her beautiful smile was replaced by unsightly scars and livid bruises that covered her skinny and dwarfed body.
16-month-old Jeong-in died on October 13th, 2020, just 271 days after she was adopted by her parents. She was repeatedly abused, but the local police did not separate her from the family despite the multiple reports of suspected child abuse. There was clear evidence of the prolonged abuses: her tiny body was bruised, many bones were fractured, and her swollen abdomen was filled with blood due to a ruptured pancreas. She suffered from severe abdominal pain until her death, however, her parents denied these allegations, saying that they did not intentionally cause her death.
Unfortunately, in Korea, child abuse is still considered a family matter rather than a crime. In response to Jeong-in’s death, the South Korean national assembly revised their child protection laws. While the new law required police to investigate immediately after a report of child abuse, the lawyers ultimately failed to lengthen the maximum prison sentence in cases of brutal domestic violence–the current maximum sentence is only five years. After hearing the news of her horrific death, the public was enraged by the police’s failure to detect the signs of abuse and protect the life of a young child. Since her death, many petitions have been signed, and social media was flooded with messages of grief and anger; various celebrities and influencers have commemorated Jeong-in and called for justice under the hashtag #SorryJeongin.
As reports of child abuse have substantially increased over the past decade, the South Korean government should take action to reinforce its child protection system and defend these vulnerable children from potential abuse and neglect.