15% of last year's 23,000 child abuse cases were repeat offenses, report shows

More than 63,000 child abuse reports were filed last year, of which about 23,000 were confirmed as abuse cases. Roughly 15 percent of those involved repeat offenses, and 38 children died.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Thursday it had published the "2025 Annual Report on Child Abuse" and submitted it to the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee.

The ministry has submitted an annual child abuse report to the National Assembly every year since 2019 under the Child Welfare Act.

The number of abuse reports received last year reached 63,166, up 12,924 cases, or 25.7 percent, from the previous year. Excluding general consultations and similar contacts, the number of cases formally accepted for review stood at 57,705.

Of those accepted cases, 23,648 — or 41 percent — were ultimately confirmed as abuse following investigations by child abuse-dedicated civil servants and other officials.

The total number of confirmed abuse cases fell by 844, or 3.4 percent, from the previous year. The confirmation rate of 41 percent was down 11 percentage points from a year earlier.

By type, emotional abuse was the most common at 11,820 cases, accounting for roughly half of all confirmed cases. Physical abuse accounted for 4,867 cases, overlapping abuse for 4,761, neglect for 1,635, and sexual abuse for 565.

The ministry attributed the divergence between rising reports and a falling confirmation rate to more active reporting of minor incidents that had previously been dismissed as simple discipline. "This is the result of efforts to raise awareness of child abuse prevention," it said.

Cases in which abused children were separated from their homes and placed under protective care were limited to 2,043, or 8.6 percent of all confirmed abuse cases. That figure includes 1,343 cases of immediate separation — a temporary protective measure introduced in March 2021.

Repeat abuse cases numbered 3,584, accounting for 15.2 percent of all confirmed cases. Repeat abuse refers to cases in which a child previously confirmed as a victim within the past five years was reported again.

The repeat abuse rate edged down from 16 percent in 2022 and 15.9 percent in 2024 to 15.2 percent last year, but has yet to fall below 15 percent.

Thirty-eight children died as a result of abuse last year, eight more than the previous year.

By age, children 6 and under accounted for 21 of the deaths, or 55.3 percent, including 18 infants under 1 year old, or 47.4 percent.

Parents were identified as the abusers in 20,172 cases, or 85.3 percent of all confirmed cases — up slightly from 84.1 percent the previous year.

The home was also the most common location of abuse, accounting for 83.5 percent of all cases.

Among abusers other than parents, surrogate caregivers — including cohabitants, teachers, hagwon and tutoring center staff, and facility workers — accounted for 6.4 percent of cases, while strangers or neighbors made up 5.9 percent and relatives 2.4 percent.

Meanwhile, the government announced a package of prevention and supplementary measures Wednesday aimed at strengthening the response to repeat abuse.

Field guidelines will be revised to make separation and protective care the top priority when repeat abuse is suspected, and information sharing among relevant agencies — including abuse histories and exemptions from compulsory school enrollment — will be expanded. A special committee to conduct in-depth analysis of suspected abuse-related deaths will begin operation this month.