5 day old baby abandoned in front of the restaurant where he worked

◀ Anchor ▶

The night before, a woman was caught by police after leaving her newborn, less than a week old, in front of a restaurant in sub-zero temperatures.

This mother was a foreign student, and she is known to have said she left it in front of the restaurant where she worked because she didn’t have the opportunity to raise her child.

Reporter Jung Ji-hyung told the story.

◀ Report ▶

In front of a restaurant in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province the day before yesterday, when the temperature dropped to minus 2 degrees Celsius.

A woman in a black puffer sweater gets out of a taxi with something on her chest.

The woman was carrying a bag in her hand and went to the lighted restaurant, then returned empty-handed.

About eight minutes later, the owner of the restaurant came out to find an infant wrapped in a blanket crying.

[김병균/식당 주인]

“I heard a cat cry a couple of times. It was so weird that now I went out, and there was a baby and two bags by the front door…”

The owner of the restaurant rushed in with a baby and a baby bag spread out on the cold floor.

The woman arrested last night at her residence was a 20-year-old foreigner who arrived in Korea earlier this year as an exchange student.

[경찰 관계자]

“Because I don’t have the ability to raise him. (However), wrap him warmly with baby items. I would have hoped that the baby would grow up well. If I tried to kill (the baby), I wouldn’t have.”

She left the baby in front of the restaurant where she worked part-time from 4 months until just before giving birth.

[김병균/식당 주인]

“It went until day 10 and it stopped. It’s been 5 days since I gave birth to my baby. They said they dropped him on day 5 post delivery.”

The woman is known to have concealed the fact of her pregnancy from her birth father as well as those around her, and claimed that she only felt ill after she reached her due date.

However, in a meeting with the owner of the restaurant today, it was reported that he regretted leaving the child and said he would raise him to the end.

The child is in good health and is being treated in hospital, but will soon be transferred to a childcare facility.

After investigating the specific motive for the crime, police plan to request an arrest warrant for the woman on child neglect charges.

This is Jeong Jeong-hyung from MBC News.

Video coverage: Seongmin Jin (Jeonju)

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