In 2009, Pastor Lee Jong-rak of Jusarang Community Church in Seoul set up Korea’s first “baby box” — a warm hatch built into the church wall where parents who feel they cannot care for a newborn can leave the child safely. The idea sprang from tragic headlines: infants abandoned in public places, some found in cold cardboard boxes in winter nights. Lee’s vision was simple yet profound — create a place where no baby would have to die because of circumstance.
Since its inception, this baby box has saved over 1,500 newborn lives. By 2019, more than 1,526 babies had been placed in the Seoul facility. A second box opened in 2014 in Gunpo, a city just south of Seoul, which has taken in over 100 infants as well. The numbers rose particularly after adoption laws changed in 2012, requiring biological mothers to register their identity for adoptions, a requirement many feared or couldn’t comply with. The anonymous dimension of the baby box offers mothers a last-resort, safe way out.
Babies placed in the box are usually cared for by church staff, volunteers, and local welfare services. They stay temporarily while medical checkups happen, and then are transferred to foster care or orphanages. A number have even been reclaimed by birth mothers in rare cases. Despite the good it does, the system is not free from controversy. Critics argue that baby boxes may unintentionally encourage abandonment instead of providing support systems that enable mothers to keep their children. The law demands registration for adoption, which some mothers avoid due to social stigma, while others raise concerns about legal rights of children born anonymously.
Locations of baby boxes remain limited. The one in front of Jusarang Church remains the most well-known, operating full-time; staffed 24/7, it has a heated interior and a sensor that rings a bell when a baby is placed. The Gunpo box is smaller in scale but serves a similar role. Some facilities offer counselling to mothers who come to deliver a baby, and have set up separate rooms for mothers to spend time before deciding.
More than just a facility, the baby box reflects deeper social issues. South Korea’s low birth rate, high stigma around unwed motherhood, and rigid adoption laws all feed into the necessity of such a system. Pastor Lee has called for better legal protections for birth mothers, including anonymous birthing options and stronger support services so that fewer women feel forced to relinquish their newborns. Despite criticisms, many agree the baby box saves lives — a last refuge in desperate situations.
The baby box in Korea is a controversial yet powerful initiative. Installed by a pastor reacting to life-and-death urgency, it has saved over 1,500 infants since 2009. Though ethical, legal, and social pressures surround it, most agree its existence offers a safer alternative than abandonment in unsafe places. Until systemic change arrives, the baby box remains a compassionate lifeline for vulnerable newborns and mothers alike.
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