▲ Image related to 'suicide after murder of children'

In October 2019, A (a 12 years old, 5th grader in elementary school), who lived in Yeon-dong, Jeju-si, Jeju do, had his short life ended by his parents. The father of A, who had been pessimistic about business failure, killed his family before committing suicide. At that time, A was found dead in the same room with his parents and younger brother (8 years old). A's friend said, "A is a friend who studied well, exercised well, and even served as a class president," adding, "We do not belong to our parents, so I don't know why even innocent friends have to leave the world." Three years later, this tragedy still occurs in which parents who decide to commit suicide due to difficulties in life or pessimism in their situation, unilaterally kill their children first. Now, fundamental measures should be taken to stop the, "suicide after killing children," cases at the national and social level.

First, it is necessary to point out the social perception hidden in the name of the event. In the past, cases in which parents killed their children and then committed suicide were called "accompanied suicide," but now they are replacing the term with, "suicide after killing their children.," and, "slang murder." Lee Yoon-ho, a Professor of Police Administration at Dongguk University, strongly criticized, "Social perception, which called suicide after killing a child, is an aiding and abetting murder," adding, "It is extremely patriarchal and the most extreme form of child abuse, to decide the life and death of children at the will of adults. Tragedy, wrapped in the title of, "accompanied suicide," is often based on the false perception of thinking of children as possessions, the false judgment that children cannot live properly without parents, and the conviction that their lives will be extremely unhappy and difficult. Therefore, in order to recognize that the act of accompanying a child to one's death is a clear crime, the exact name of, "suicide after murder," should be used instead of,"suicide together."”

The frequent occurrence of, "suicide after killing children," also means that our society has no expectation or belief that we will take care of and take responsibility for the children left behind. As, "suicide after killing children," is considered to be the main causes of distrust, we need to raise the level of social trust that, "the state is raising children together." The government should strengthen the public system, so that children of parents who choose to commit suicide can enjoy basic rights in society and grow up healthy. In the United States and the United Kingdom, the public, private, and local communities are strategically cooperating to cope with this. The Family Murder Assessment Program (LAP), which is in place in the United States, uses a risk assessment tool to identify victims at high risk of being killed by police, and has since been connected to domestic violence counseling agencies to provide counseling services. In addition, a dedicated team, Domestic Violence High Risk Team (DVHRT), consisting of experts such as protection groups, police, prosecutors, and corrections officers, is operated to identify and examine high-risk groups. Recently, Korea is also making various efforts by referring to the precedent in the United States. For example, the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation monitors and supports poor families with children through in-depth case management services such as child protection agencies, home consignment support centers, and welfare centers. Government agencies also provide welfare or crisis response counseling at 129, without a national number of the Health and Welfare Counseling Center.

Just because children have no freedom of birth, parents do not have the right to take away their children by choosing their death. The future and life of a child cannot be dictated by anyone but themselves. Considering the children who died without even knowing that today was their last day, our society can no longer put off responsibility for children being only left to the parents. All social agencies within our communities must actively strive to prevent precious lives from disappearing any more.

By Seo Ji-min, cub-reporter  jmseo1215@naver.com

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