Activists hold a rally near Seoul City Hall to advocate for the right to birth registration for all babies, Aug. 17, 2024. A bill has been recently proposed to require medical institutions to register the births of foreign babies in the government system, in a bipartisan bid to reduce the number of undocumented children and better protect their rights. Newsis

Lawmakers have proposed a bill requiring medical institutions to register the births of non-Korean babies in the government system, in a bipartisan bid to reduce the number of undocumented children and better protect their rights.

Last week, 11 lawmakers from both the ruling People Power Party (PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) jointly proposed a bill requiring hospitals and other medical institutions to report the births of children born to foreign nationals in the country, including undocumented residents.

"Korea has promoted children's rights since it ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child in December 1991," the legislators said in the proposal. "But unlike what the convention requires, Korean laws do not guarantee the right to birth registration for the children of non-citizens, which could expose them to crimes like child trafficking and illegal adoption … The bill aims to protect their human rights more broadly by allowing them to be registered here and later giving them access to the information and their documents."

The bill also aims to set up a system to track and document the deaths of such children.

To tackle the issue of undocumented births, the Ministry of Health and Welfare began enforcing a policy last year requiring medical institutions to report all Korean newborns to the state-run Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. The service, in turn, promptly shares the data with local government officials.

The plight of undocumented babies, which came to light in 2023, exposed deep-rooted systemic failures, including the lack of mandatory birth reporting and social stigma surrounding single mothers. Many of these mothers, under immense societal pressure, felt compelled to hide the births of their children. This tragic situation led to heartbreaking cases of infanticide and abandonment, fueling urgent calls for reforms and a fundamental shift in societal attitudes across Korea.

However, this policy has not extended to children born to non-citizens. As a result, some children born to undocumented foreign nationals in Korea remain unregistered, as their parents fearing deportation choose not to report the births. The exact number of such minors living in the country remains unclear. According to the Board of Audit and Inspection, at least 4,025 babies went unregistered between 2015 and 2022.

This is why the bill also seeks to ensure that government officials involved in birth registration are prohibited from reporting undocumented residents to the immigration office, providing a measure of protection for these families.

"The right to be recognized as a person is a prerequisite for exercising all other rights," said an official at the office of Rep. Lee Kang-ill of the DPK, who is leading the legislation effort. "If a baby is denied the right, they cannot access any welfare programs, including education and health. Worse, the baby is at a greater risk of crimes such as illegal adoption or trafficking."

The official said the legislation is merely a fulfillment of Korea's commitment when it signed the U.N. treaty.

"I would view it as bridging the gap between international law and Korea's domestic law," the official said.

The lawmakers have held two public hearings on the issue. With both major parties involved in the legislative effort, the official added that the bill is expected to lead to a positive outcome and ultimately become law.