Korean couple nurture their virtual baby. Starve their real-life one to death.

[MaizyDaisy]

South Korea was in shock today after police arrested a couple Wednesday for child neglect that allegedly caused their 3-month-old daughter to starve to death. The husband, 41, and wife, 25, were addicted to online games, spending up to 12 hours every night at Internet cafes, police said.

Known only as the Kims because their first names are protected under Korean privacy law, the couple met in 2008 on an Internet chat Web site. Throughout their marriage and birth of their baby daughter in June 2009, the couple, both unemployed, lived with the wife's parents. The Kims spent most of their time playing Internet games at local cafes called "PC bangs," even during the wife's pregnancy, officials said.

An estimated 30,000 PC bangs are spread throughout the country, open 24 hours. The dimly-lit Internet parlors practically sit on every street corner equipped with high-speed broadband, packed with young loyal gamers, and often polluted with cigarette smoke. Roughly half the Korean population plays online games regularly, according to the Korean Game Industry Agency, which is partly sponsored by the government.

"They called in last September to report that they found their daughter dead after coming back home in the morning," Det. Chung Jin-Won of the Suwon Seobu Police Station said. "They had spent 12 hours, all night at a PC bang."

An autopsy by the National Institute of Scientific Investigation concluded that their daughter's death resulted from malnourishment. The Kims also confessed to police that they had been feeding rotten, powdered milk and had often spanked their crying baby.

Neglecting their daughter, who was born prematurely, the parents were instead preoccupied with raising a "virtual daughter" through an online game called "PRIUS,"' police authorities said. The multi-role-playing game allows players to choose a job, interact with others in the virtual world and even earn an extra avatar or a sub-character to nurture once they reach a certain level.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/...ry?id=10007040

[Pazuzu]

What the shit-fuck?

[TwiztidAngel]

damn...and i thought I was an internet junkie

[thehesbomb]

Fuckers really should have stuck with being gaming "parents". How the hell did they manage to breed anyways? Lights go out at a LAN party for a couple minutes?

[MC30]

im not suprised.
at all.

[AngelFire]

[LadyCygnet]

The Kims also confessed to police that they had been feeding rotten, powdered milk and had often spanked their crying baby.

I don't think that I can articulate the sheer level of rage I feel towards these two oxygen thieves right now. I spend entirely too much time on the Internet, but I sure as hell don't spank my daughter for crying or feed her anything that has gone bad.

[Marv]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worl...rve-death.html

A computer-addicted couple let their real life baby starve to death while they raised a virtual daughter online, police said today.

The couple spent 12 hours a night at internet cafes while their three-month-old daughter was left home alone at their apartment in Suwon, South Korea. They were arrested today.

Police said they had become hooked on living online and were raising an avatar daughter through their profiles on a Second Life-style game called PRIUS.

The multi-role playing game allows users to choose a job, interact with others in the virtual world and earn an extra avatar to nurture once they reach a certain level.

Father Kim Yoo-chul, 41, and mother Choi Mi-sun, 25, called police when they returned from one overnight, 12-hour session and found their daughter dead.
[...]

Officers became suspicious of how severely dehydrated the child was and have charged the couple with child abuse and neglect.

An autopsy confirmed she died of malnourishment.

Police said the Kims had become so obsessed with the daughter they were raising online that they appeared to have not taken their responsibility to their real daughter seriously.

The couple confessed they had fed the child rotten powdered milk and often spanked her.

Worried about their addiction to the games, Kim's parents had been taking care of the baby - but, tragically, had returned her to her mother and father just two weeks before she died.

[jvaughn74]

Kim Yoo-chul, 41, and his partner Choi Mi-sun, 25, fed their three-month-old baby only on visits home between 12-hour sessions at a neighbourhood internet cafe, where they were raising an avatar daughter in a Second-Life-style game called Prius online, police said.

Leaving their real daughter at their home in a suburb of Seoul to fend for herself, the pair, who were unemployed, spent hours role-playing in the virtual reality game, which allows users to choose a career and friends, granting them offspring as a reward for passing a certain level.

The pair became obsessed with nurturing their virtual daughter, called Anima, but neglected their real daughter, who was not named.

Eventually, the couple returned home after one 12-hour session in September to find the child dead and called police. The pair were arrested on Friday after an autopsy showed that the baby died from prolonged malnutrition.

"The couple seemed to have lost their will to live a normal life, because they didn't have jobs and gave birth to a premature baby," Chung Jin-won, a police officer in Suwon, the Seoul suburb, told the Yonhap news agency.

"They indulged themselves in the online game of raising a virtual character so as to escape from reality, which led to the death of their real baby."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...ual-child.html

[Pazuzu]

Psssst :) http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=31545

[Dakota Valkyrie]

Psssst... "Search" and "Report Post" features are up and running. :)

[Silvahalo]

They should just bury these fuckers alive with their POS computers. I seriously hope they do not get online access while in prison, now that would be a real joke, a mockery to baby girls death.
"The Kims also confessed to police that they had been feeding rotten, powdered milk and had often spanked their crying baby".......I can't even stomach that, its so awful to think about a baby going neglected for hours on end drinking putrid milk because her POS parents are sucked into a fantasy world, I'd kick their asses in prison extra hard for that its just so weak and pathetic.....so cruel to baby girl.

And 3 mo. is such a milestone, officially an infant, with chubby cheeks, personality galore. Baby girl wasn't chubby tho and she would have been crying, whimpering, not smiling and cooing. I hope these baby killing assholes never see the light of day or the glow of a computer again. Really, they are utterly useless, just be done with them.

Baby girl should have looked much like this, chubby and healthy well kept for.... so sorry baby girl. You deserved life, to be loved and cherished.

[mommyX3]

First, I need to say this story is absolutly disgusting, infuriating, and horrifying.

Secondly, I am just amazed by the idea that people are willing to put in so much time and effort in these "virtual worlds" and do absolutly nothing of substance in their "actual lives".

I actually found my 10 year old daughter playing an online game where she had to clean up a "virtual playroom"-

I watched as she carefully put the right items in the right places and finished with a perfect score-

Oh, did I mention she was sitting in the middle of our "very real" disaster of a playroom surrounded by a sea of toys, games, and books that she refuses to pick up!!!- I didn't know if I should laugh or cry- Anyone have a "virtual" tissue :(

[TwiztidAngel]

game...over...

kinda reminds me of a fantasy version of sims... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdgh3zQYqvo"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdgh3zQYqvo[/ame]

[Whisper]

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) --

Police have arrested a South Korean couple whose toddler starved to death while they were raising a virtual child online, authorities said.

The couple fed their 3-month-old daughter once a day between marathon stretches in a local Internet cafe, where they were raising a virtual child in the fantasy role-playing game Prius Online, police told local reporters Friday.

Prius Online is a 3-D game in which players nurture an online companion, Anima, a young girl with mysterious powers who grows and increases her skills as the game progresses.

Police have not identified the 41-year-old father and 25-year-old mother, who lived in Suwon, a suburb south of Seoul. But the father apologized, speaking to reporters.

"I wish that she hadn't got sick and that she will live well in heaven forever. And as the father, I am sorry," he said.

The baby reportedly died five months ago.

South Korea has one of the world's fastest broadband networks. Seoul has won international awards for e-governance. Online gaming teams are sponsored by major conglomerates and 24-hour, high-speed Internet cafes, known as PC Bangs, dot every urban neighborhood.

Police said the couple had lost their jobs and used the game as an escape from reality, especially after the birth of their premature baby.

"They instead played an online game in which they raised a virtual character so as to escape from reality, which led to the death of their real baby," Chung Jin-won, a police officer in Suwon, told Yonhap News Agency.

"South Korea remains a very conservative society so people who fall outside the norm can come under severe stress and pressure," said Michael Breen, the Seoul-based author of "The Koreans."

"The Internet has provided such people with a paradise to escape to and simply get lost in."

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapc...ead/index.html

[Valasca]

The trial of a South Korean couple whose 3-month-old baby allegedly died of malnutrition while they nurtured an animated child during marathon sessions playing an online game begins Friday in Suwon, a satellite city south of Seoul.

The unmarried and unemployed couple, who have not been named, will be tried in Suwon District Court for negligent homicide. They were arrested in March.

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/as...ex.html?hpt=T2

[koochie]

they didnt even name the poor baby?>>>WTF???

[Valasca]

er, no. they are not naming the couple.

[koochie]

er, no. they are not naming the couple.

The pair became obsessed with nurturing their virtual daughter, called Anima, but neglected their real daughter, who was not named.

im referring to this..not sure if they are insuating they didnt name her or they cannot post her name.

[Valasca]

oh, i see what you mean now.
I took that to mean the press was not naming her. Gods, I HOPE that;s what it means.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

That's still what it means. The name of the child is not being made public.

[Dakota Valkyrie]

A couple whose baby starved to death while they raised a virtual child in an online fantasy game was sentenced Friday, their defense attorney said.

Prosecutors at Suwon District Court had sought a five-year sentence for negligent homicide, but the court handed out a two-year sentence.

Sentence was suspended for the female defendant, Kim Yun-jeong, 25, who is expecting the couple's daughter in August. Her partner, Kim Jae-beom, 41, will serve two years.

The unmarried couple's defense attorney said he was satisfied with the sentence.
[...]

Three-month-old Kim Sa-rang died of malnutrition in September while her parents were engaged in 12-hour sessions of Prius Online. In the 3-D fantasy game, players nurture an online girl who gains magical powers as she grows.

Kim's mother is a former factory worker while her father is a taxi and truck driver.

During their trial, the court heard that the toddler weighed 6.4 pounds (2.9 kgs) when she was born, but was only 5.5 pounds (2.5 kgs) at the time of her death.

The trial was in March, but sentencing was delayed after the court requested a psychological examination of the mother. Both defendants appeared contrite during the trial, with the mother frequently breaking down in tears.
[...]

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/as....virtual.baby/

[Dakota Valkyrie]

A couple whose baby starved to death while they raised a virtual child in an online fantasy game was sentenced Friday, their defense attorney said.

Prosecutors at Suwon District Court had sought a five-year sentence for negligent homicide, but the court handed out a two-year sentence.

Sentence was suspended for the female defendant, Kim Yun-jeong, 25, who is expecting the couple's daughter in August. Her partner, Kim Jae-beom, 41, will serve two years.

The unmarried couple's defense attorney said he was satisfied with the sentence.
[...]

Three-month-old Kim Sa-rang died of malnutrition in September while her parents were engaged in 12-hour sessions of Prius Online. In the 3-D fantasy game, players nurture an online girl who gains magical powers as she grows.

Kim's mother is a former factory worker while her father is a taxi and truck driver.

During their trial, the court heard that the toddler weighed 6.4 pounds (2.9 kgs) when she was born, but was only 5.5 pounds (2.5 kgs) at the time of her death.

The trial was in March, but sentencing was delayed after the court requested a psychological examination of the mother. Both defendants appeared contrite during the trial, with the mother frequently breaking down in tears.
[...]

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/as....virtual.baby/

[Marv]

TWO YEARS???


What the FUCK? And the bitch is pregnant again.


Please please please tell me they will remove this poor baby from these tards as soon as she is born? Send the incubator home with a brand new games console, and a bag of 'virtual' games to play, on condition that she get sterilised and gives up this latest potential victim for adoption! She will jump at the offer, I'm sure.

Two years, suspended. Fuck.

[akika666]

wow never heard of that game. i can't keep up anymore. i wonder how this crime is perceived in Korea, where it counts. will they really lose their new baby as they should? i have no concept of how CPS-type stuff works in Korea.

so sad and senseless.