Korean celebrities raise awareness of fatal child abuse case featured on investigative TV show
- Baby Jeong-in died last year in South Korea after having apparently been abused by her adoptive parents, according to an investigative TV show
- BTS member Jimin, singer Uhm Jung-hwa and actor Shin Ae-ra are among celebrities to post about the case on social media
South Korean celebrities helped raise awareness of injustices and apparent abuses that led to a child’s death last year after a television show investigated her treatment by adoptive parents.
On Saturday, South Korean broadcaster SBS aired an episode of its Unanswered Questions investigative show that focused on the death of the 16-month-old, drawing attention to the arrest of the adoptive parents and the fact that multiple reports to the police before her death were ignored.
The girl, known as Jeong-in or Jung-in, died at a hospital on October 13 as a result of traumatic injury to her pancreas. That same day her adoptive parents, known by their surnames Ahn and Jang, were arrested on child abuse charges.
The SBS investigation looked into the intensity of harm caused to the child, and revealed that the police hadn’t acted on several earlier reports of suspected child abuse by those around the family, including workers at Jeong-in’s day care. Following Jeong-in’s death, the police later reportedly discovered videos of the adoptive mother, Jang, filming herself abusing the baby.
The story gained widespread coverage in South Korea over the weekend, and petitions have been filed with the presidential Blue House to expand the investigation of the adoptive parents to include attempted murder. There have also been calls to investigate the police failure to look into the situation.