The ‘ghost children’ and ‘heihaizi’

Korea can never become an advanced country if it neglects unregistered children on top of having the world’s lowest fertility rate.

Lee Yoon-jinThe author is a professor of social welfare at Seowon University. Korea’s dark side has surfaced through a regular audit of the Ministry of Health and Welfare by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI). The government watchdog has uncovered 2,236 unregistered infants and children. (The number only reflect the records of their births at hospitals from 2015 to 2022.) The BAI investigated further into 23 of them and found most of them dead, including the two discovered in a freezer in an apartment in Suwon.

Before debating the legal dispute over the “invisible or shadow” children cases, we must deliberate why these children had been neglected by society until they were discovered to be dead. The deaths of the unborn or infants is different from a murder or child abuse under the criminal law, as such cases must take into consideration the mental state of the mother and many other conditions. Under Article 251 of the Criminal Law, the act of killing a child during or after birth to cover the shame of an unwanted birth or due to difficulties of raising the child or any other motives is subject to punishment.

A recent study showed that of 24 first-trial cases related to infant deaths or attempts to kill a newborn, over 90 percent were committed by an unmarried mother or due to economic conditions. Half of the defendants in the first trials received suspended prison sentences. As most of the births took place outside hospitals or legal boundaries to keep them secret, the babies were exposed to criminal acts. The realities cannot be exactly known since out-of-hospital births cannot be accurately tracked.

The disastrous flood of the Yangtze River in the summer of 1998 highlighted the shocking fact that thousands of deaths were heihaizi, or “black children,” referring to an unregistered child. The deprivation of rights for these children nonexistent in household registrations in China drew criticism at home and abroad. Heihaizi resulted from the country’s strict one-child policy to control the world’s largest population and preference of sons.

In the face of a thinning population today, China has reversed its policy to promote births and offers various social benefits to out-of-wedlock children if their births are registered. It is shameful that invisible children are left abandoned in South Korea today without any social protection and attention as in the past of China.

The government and the National Assembly must respond to the alarming situation fast, based on three crucial steps: prevention of unregistered births, implementation of meticulous policy and monitoring of the discovered children, and punishing parties involved. First of all, the government and the legislature must ensure a safe environment for mothers to give birth.

The passage of a revision to the Family Relation Registration Act to mandate hospitals report births is a good start.

Under the revised law, medical institutions must first report births to the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA), which then informs local government of the births. (Local governments can automatically register the births even if the parents do not report them.) Since 99.8 percent of births in Korea take place in hospitals, the revision can help narrow the blind spots for unprotected children.

Authorities must move onto the next stage. Parents who wish to remain anonymous should be assured that they can raise the child under legal boundaries as long as the birth is made at a hospital. But it is a big mistake to think that such assurance can prevent terrible incidents. Support must be extended from pregnancy to birth and nurturing for unmarried parents. This cannot be possible without changes in social awareness and compassion by social members.

Childbirth and rearing must become the community’s responsibility. Children must be protected for their very lives, not in the context of their relationship with the biological mother. Health records from birth to adulthood should be kept for continuous watch and support. Information on child health must not be neglected for privacy.

Korea can never become an advanced country if it neglects unregistered children on top of having the world’s lowest fertility rate. Public awareness must mature. Bipartisan political action is also imperative to turn it around.

Translation by the Korea JoongAng Daily staff.