Top Stories 23/07/05 Korea amends birth registration law after ‘ghost infants’ inquiry

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Korea amends birth registration law after ‘ghost infants’ inquiry

The changes came after govt inquiry found details of the parents of 2,123 children born between 2015 to 2022 were missing

Young students pictured in Seoul, South Korea, on Nov. 23, 2021. (Photo: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images)

By UCA News reporter

Published: July 07, 2023 11:55 AM GMT

South Korean Catholics have welcomed changes in the country’s birth registration law after a government inquiry found irregularities in the birth records of more than 2,100 children.

A recent South Korean Health Ministry audit discovered the details of the parents of 2,123 children born between 2015 to 2022 were missing, Catholic Peace Broadcasting Corporation of Korea (CPBC) reported on July 5.

Father Park Eun-ho, director of the Catholic Institute for Bioethics, welcomed the change to the Family Relations Registration Act approved by the National Assembly.

“It is very welcome to see that the national parliament has paid attention to life issues,” Park Eun-ho said.

The existing Family Relations Registration Act put the responsibility of birth registration on the parents. Failure to report births within a month would only invite a 50,000 Korean Won (US$38.29) penalty with no criminal charges.

The National Assembly, in its recent partial amendment to the birth registration law on June 30, has mandated that the hospitals must notify local governments of new births.

According to the amendment, the medical institution must register the birth information of a newborn baby in the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service system (HIRA). The system will then notify the local government.

The amended birth registration system is expected to come into force around one year from the date of the promulgation of the bill.

Park Eun-ho pointed out that the government needs to be careful in implementing the amended law considering various factors that prompt parents to abandon their children.

“Since most ‘ghost infants’ occur in situations where it is difficult for parents to raise children, a more careful approach is needed,” Park Eun-ho said.

In South Korea, ghost infants refer to children who are abandoned by their parents or die without birth registration.

Meanwhile, Cho Kyu-hong, an official with South Korea’s Health Ministry, said that the government had taken cognizance of the situation and has vowed to take necessary precautions and find the whereabouts of the parents of the 2,123 children.

“We will make every effort to confirm‎ the whereabouts and safety of 2,123 people whose births have not been registered,” Cho said.

Park Eun-ho further pointed out that religious organizations and their believers play a key role in safeguarding the life and upbringing of children.

“As the existence of ghost infants who exist but do not exist [on birth certificates] is revealed, the role of religion in conveying the importance of marriage and family and the preciousness of life is further demanded,” Park Eun-ho said.

He further emphasized that “priests and believers should make more efforts” to safeguard the lives of children.

Thomas Cha Hee-jae, an obstetrician and gynecologist and the president of the Pro-Life Medical Association, said that a maternal anonymity system must be implemented to reduce abortions.

“As a way to encourage childbirth, we should implement a protected birth system and at the same time introduce an abortion real-name system to prevent abortion,” Cha said.  

The 'protected birth system' is a maternal anonymity system that can prevent the abandonment of children while protecting the mother's identity.

However, experts and activists say that permitting anonymous births may encourage mothers to give up raising them, and there is a possibility that information about biological parents cannot be obtained at a later stage.

Cha also pointed out that necessary and “prompt legislation on the crime of abortion is also a task that the state must solve,” as the possibility of opting for an abortion rather than an anonymous birth was high.

The proposal to implement the protected birth system failed to pass the National Assembly this year.

Father Park Jeong-woo, secretary general of the Life Committee of the Seoul Archdiocese, welcomed the changes and urged for measures to curb abortion.

“It is a pity that the children who come to their parents are not regarded as gifts from God. Children have the right to be born in love and hospitality. It must be done,” Park Jeong-woo said.

“We cannot ignore the concerns of mothers giving birth outside hospitals and increasing abortion rates accompanying the birth notification system,” he further added.

He also pointed out that the proposed and approved birth notification system was only an “institutional improvement and cannot be a fundamental solution.”

The birth registration saga comes amid a demographic crisis in South Korea due to a drastic drop in birth rates and a rise in the elderly population.

The country is expected to have more than 25 percent of people aged 65 or above by 2030, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service. The country had the world’s lowest birth rate of 0.84 in 2020.