The Korean couple who received international media attention after they let their infant daughter starve to death while they spent most of their time in a nearby Internet cafe raising a virtual child were convicted and sentenced yesterday.
But while the husband, 41, received a two-year jail sentence, a two-year prison term for his common-law wife, 25, was suspended as she is due to give birth to their second child in three months. She will escape going to jail if she is not convicted for another crime within the next three years.
. . .
Prosecutors had sought a five-year jail term for both the husband and wife, who were surnamed Kim. Judge Yu decided to give a lighter sentence because they had expressed remorse and were awaiting the birth of another child. The wife promised the judge that she would take good care of her new baby.
That poor baby on the way doesn't have a chance in the world.
14 comments:
The child should be tsken from her after birth. She has shown NO ability to raise a real child.
So....2 years for negligent homicide....about the same stretch that pot-heads can expect if they are convicted of indulging in their favorite past time. Yup, Korean justice system strikes again.
Sorry, she should have been sent off to prison like daddy, and the baby taken away when born (and I say that knowing full well what Korean social services are like).
She "promises to take care of the next one"? She's already proven she is incapable of being a parent.
Two years!!??!! @.@
She's responsible for the death of her baby and she gets let off because... she's having another baby.
KRD, that's no dumber than raping your retarded niece/grandaughter then getting off and being given custody of her AGAIN because she has no other family to "take care of her".
While I'd be tempted to turn those two numbskulls loose on the D.M.Z. for a little game of landmine frogger to teach them the difference between reality and virtual reality, I think that the larger issue is that of addiction and rehabilitation. The father and mother need help, and the bun in the oven probably has a better chance if it has two numbskulls responsible for it than one, so I'd be more in favor of getting the two of them help than making them walk the plank.
Awww she promised not to kill her new baby. If you can't trust the word of a woman who let her own baby starve to death while she played a fkin' computer game, who could you possibly trust in this crazy kooky world?
It reminds me of the girl that was raped by her family and returned to the custody of the rapists because, you know, they promised not to do it again or nuthin'.
Is it that Korea just doesn't want to bear the expense of making children wards of the state so they send them back into insane dangerous situations?
Some thoughts:
I discussed this with my wife who thought one or both of the parents come from well-off families. How else could they afford to play computer games for 12 hours a day. She also thinks that they families of one or both shopped for "justice" ala OJ in the U.S.
Something smells fishy here.
Where is the outrage form the "netizens?" I guess it just reinforces the thought that children in SK aren't really human, they're property.
Oops, that should be "from" not "form" damn spell check.
Isn't it odd how it actually involves more work getting a driver's license or even all the paperwork done to come teach here but to have a baby requires no tests, no demonstration of ability...hate to say it and I'm sure this will begin some flaming but those who are unfit to be parents (and this case is a PERFECT example) should not be allowed to have or raise children. As a taxpayer who funds social services, police, fire, and education services, you can bet a child growing up in this environment is going to come with a heavy cost.
No, Mark, that's a great point. Of course, that leads to dangerous areas, when you determine who is "allowed" to have children and who isn't.
But I've had plenty of time to think about all this, going through the US fiancee visa process with my significant other. We're in month number 9 of what is on average a seven-month process. It involves proving through pictures, emails, birthday cards, receipts, etc. that we're a legitimate couple, followed by paperwork and police checks that document her entire life, followed by paperwork that shows neither she nor I will be a burden on the state. More than a few people have joked to me in real life that she should have just crossed over from Mexico. (That's not really the same thing, because she doesn't need a visa to come to the US, just to get married here). But to that I always respond that if we were, say, 19 with three kids out of wedlock with me working as an Arby's manager and she watching soap operas in our trailor out in Westnowhere, PA, we'd have no problem getting married and reproducing.
Not exactly the same, my example, and not easy to go from government restrictions on foreigners to deciding who can and cannot have and raise children, but food for thought nonetheless.
Wow, I didn't know it was that tough. Sorry to hear about that Brian. I'll be going through something similar when my wife changes citizenship eventually when we head back (could take 6 months to a year for us as well).
I like this quote by my favourite author (Jonathan Swift): "Laws are like cobwebs, which may catch small flies, but let wasps and hornets break through."
I guess in the end, with any set of rules, you'll find someone somewhere who will find a loophole...
So... does anyone know how healthy they had kept the internet baby?
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