Bill to increase punishment for infanticide passes Nat'l Assembly committee

▲ An undated file photo of a meeting of the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee (Yonhap)

infanticide punishment-bill

Bill to increase punishment for infanticide passes Nat'l Assembly committee

SEOUL, July 17 (Yonhap) -- A bill to toughen the punishment for the intentional killing of newborn babies and relevant body abandonment passed a National Assembly committee Monday.

The Legislation and Judiciary Committee approved the revision of the Criminal Act, which calls for raising the punishment for infanticide and abandonment of an infant's body to the level of the punishment for ordinary murder and body abandonment.

The revision came amid growing social resentment over a large number of recent deaths of unregistered babies.

The current law stipulates the death penalty, life sentence or an imprisonment of at least five years for those convicted of ordinary murder but caps the punishment for infanticide at an imprisonment of not more than 10 years.

It also stipulates an imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 5 million won (US$3,950), or an imprisonment of up to 10 years or a fine of up to 15 million won for those convicted of ordinary body abandonment, compared with a prison term of up to two years or a fine of up to 3 million won for those convicted of infant body abandonment.

The revision is scheduled to be presented to a parliamentary plenary session Tuesday before going into effect about six months later.

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