The news of that day has passed, but its meaning remains with us today. "That Day in History" reads the present through records of the past.
The elementary school daughter died, and the wife also lost her life. Yet only the husband, who was at the scene, survived. The husband, identified as A (then 48), told police that he "fell asleep drunk and woke up to find his wife and daughter dead." At first, it appeared to be a family tragedy. No notable external injuries were found on either of their bodies.
But as the police investigation progressed, suspicious circumstances emerged, and authorities ultimately concluded that the parents had conspired in the daughter's death.
On June 13, 2021, A, the husband and father in the "Naju mother-and-daughter case," was finally arrested on charges including murder.
◇ "Financially, It Was Too Difficult"... The Father Who Changed His Statement = The incident occurred in the early hours of June 11, 2021. At around 5:30 a.m., A reported to fire authorities that "my wife and daughter are dead." Police and firefighters who responded found the wife (47) and daughter (8) dead inside the home. The daughter was found dead lying in bed, and the wife had taken her own life.
At first, A claimed that he "fell asleep drunk the previous night and woke up to find the two dead." But later, during police questioning, he said that the couple had previously attempted to take their own lives together due to financial difficulties, and that they had intended to make the same choice on the day of the incident. He then changed his statement to suggest that "my wife killed our daughter."
The investigation found that the day before the incident, A and his wife fed their daughter a mixture of antipyretics and tranquilizers and then suffocated her to death. The wife then took her own life by overdosing on tranquilizers, and A witnessed this but stood by without intervening.
◇ "No Circumstances to Consider"... Sentence Increased to 12 Years = Prosecutors determined that A had indeed committed murder and other crimes. Decisive evidence included a note he left hinting at a family suicide, the wife's handwritten will written the day before the incident, A's DNA detected on the daughter's body, and autopsy results showing that the daughter died first before the wife died of drug poisoning.
Prosecutors criticized A, saying, "A is the perpetrator who killed his daughter out of selfish thinking," and "Even though all the evidence points to A, he denies the crime, claims he cannot remember, and shifts the blame onto his dead wife."
A's side, on the other hand, denied the charges, saying he was "the biggest victim, having lost his daughter and spouse." However, the court of first instance accepted the prosecution's argument and sentenced him to seven years in prison.
A refused to accept the ruling. He appealed, saying, "I never conspired to murder my wife and daughter, nor did I resolve to take any extreme action." In response, prosecutors filed a counter-appeal, arguing that the sentence was too lenient.
The appellate court found the original guilty verdict to be justified. Based on A's claim that he drank alcohol without taking action even as his spouse and child lay collapsed, and that he wrote what appeared to be a will immediately after the incident, the court dismissed A's appeal, stating, "The original judgment is justified and acceptable, and it cannot be said that there was any illegality such as a misapprehension of facts."
If anything, the sentence became heavier. The court stated, "He committed the crime out of despair over his financial difficulties, but there are no circumstances worthy of consideration," and "Considering the sentencing conditions, the original (first-instance) sentence is recognized as unjust for being too lenient."
In the end, the appellate court overturned the original ruling and sentenced A to 12 years in prison.
◇ Now Not 'Family Suicide' but 'Child Abuse Murder' = Such incidents were once called "family suicides" or "family tragedies." But the government has decided to no longer view them as unavoidable choices by parents or objects of sympathy. It plans to define the killing of children as the most extreme form of child abuse crime and to strengthen related punishment.
According to joint measures by relevant ministries including the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Justice, the government plans to root out the distorted perception that treats children as parents' possessions, and to overhaul the system in a direction where the state actively protects children's right to life. While reviewing measures to raise the level of related punishment, it is also pursuing legal amendments to include murder under criminal law within the category of child abuse crimes.
The actual statistics are shocking. According to an analysis by Save the Children and the Inha University Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation of the Ministry of Health and Welfare's "Annual Report on Child Abuse," a total of 72 children died between 2019 and 2023 in cases where parents killed their children and then took their own lives. The number of child victims per year rose from nine in 2019 to 23 in 2023, an increase of more than 2.5-fold in four years. In particular, about 85% of the child victims were infants, toddlers, and elementary school students aged 12 or under.
Starting in August this year, the government will operate a special committee to analyze suspected child abuse deaths, and is also reviewing the introduction of a child death review system that analyzes all child death cases. It also plans to take steps for the early identification of high-risk groups, including conducting a full survey of 58,000 children aged six or under who have had no medical records or vaccination history for an extended period.
