By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter




Human rights abuse has been on the rise amid the prolonged economic slowdown. Some parents suffering from poverty have turned to the last resort _ killing their own children before taking their own lives.

The Korea Council of Children’s Organizations on Thursday held a seminar to announce the results of a survey on children’s rights in the cases of child victims killed by their own parents from 2000 through the first six months of 2004 at the National Human Rights Commission of Korea.

According to statistics of the National Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse (NCPCA), the number of child abuse cases surged to 4,983 in 2003 from 2,606 in 2001 and 2,946 in 2002. The results also show about 84 percent of child abuse offenders are the child’s own parents.

The number of children killed by their parents was estimated to be 19 last year, up from 17 in 2002, eight in 2001 and four in 2000. In the first half of this year, the number stood at nine. In total, 58 children have been murdered by the hands of their own parents over the last five years.

Kim Ka-young, researcher at the department of child welfare of Sookmyung Women’s University, found that mothers cannot afford to manage their families after their husbands abandon them because of accumulated debts.

Kim quoted that on July 22, four family members drowned as one car plunged into the sea in North Kyongsang Province, killing a 37-year-old man, identified as Kim, his wife, identified as Yoon, their 7-year-old son and 3-year-old son.

Police found a suicide note explaining they were ending their lives because of economic difficulties after allegedly killing the children from an overdose of sleeping pills.

``Murdering the children is a serious crime overlooked by many people, even though the parents also kill themselves,’’ she said. She added that killing children happens only in Korea and Japan because parents as well as society and the government are not aware of how to care for them.

The survey team reported it goes against the Child Welfare Law that clarifies an all-out ban on any physical and mental abuse of children. It also stipulates parents or guardians should protect their children from danger and ensure their health and well-being. On that note, killing children at the mercy of their own parents seriously violates the basic rights of children.

A monitoring team emphasized that an increasing number of children killed by their own parents is the result of middle or upper class families ruined by the economic downturn and branded as credit delinquents.

``The number of child victims sharply rose to 17 in 2002 from 8 in the previous year, which coincides with the economic downturn that generated about three million credit delinquents, especially in 2002 and 2003,’’ the survey team reported.

In most cases of child victims, children are killed by their mother, which represents more than 48 percent of the total cases, followed by both parents at 31 percent and by their father at 20.7 percent.

Kim explained the problem comes from an improper social welfare system and low public awareness.

In terms of methods of murder, children are mostly poisoned (37.9 percent), followed by strangulation (22.4 percent) and pushed from a high place (10.3 percent).

Experts said more children were killed by poison because they can take it without knowing it can kill them.

``The murdering of children by parents should not be regarded as a domestic affair. It should be dealt with at the national level, because in many cases, parents who kill their children and themselves is a last resort that goes beyond the support of the social system,’’ Kim said.

The survey team also added the government should take responsibility of children whose lives are likely to be in danger under the protection of their parents.

The survey team urged the government to come up with measures to protect children whose lives are threatened due to economic hardship within the social safety net.

chungay@koreatimes.co.kr