Over 6,700 kids repeatedly reported for suspected abuse last year

▲ This illustration depicts child abuse. (Yonhap)

child abuse reports-police

Over 6,700 kids repeatedly reported for suspected abuse last year

SEOUL, April 29 (Yonhap) -- Over 6,700 children were repeatedly reported to police for suspected abuse last year, a lawmaker said Wednesday, citing data from the Korean National Police Agency.

The number of children reported two or more times in 2025 due to suspected child abuse totaled 6,795, according to the police data released by Rep. Suh Beom-soo of the main opposition People Power Party.

The police revamped the Abuse Prevention Officer system in January last year and have since tracked repeated reports by victim child, not the reporter's phone number.

The largest group -- 4,362 children -- was reported twice, followed by 1,306 reported three times and 490 reported four times. As many as 114 children were reported 10 or more times.

Separate welfare ministry data shows 50,242 suspected child abuse reports in 2024 and 24,492 of them were confirmed as abuse cases after government investigations.

Meanwhile, child abuse cases where suspected perpetrators are not referred to the prosecution increased from 1,233 in 2021 to 1,735 in 2022, 2,399 in 2023 and 2,854 in 2025, according to police data.

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