A South Korean court has acquitted a woman previously convicted of murdering a baby she gave birth to in hospital, the latest twist in a case that has gripped the country and fueled debate over its murky abortion laws.

The woman had wanted to terminate her pregnancy at 36 weeks, but prosecutors said the baby was born alive and then killed.

The woman, identified only by her last name Kwon, was convicted of murder along with two doctors in March. He was given a three-year suspended prison sentence.

Although the doctors’ murder convictions were upheld, the appeals court reduced their prison sentences.

The surgeon who operated on Kwon had his sentence reduced from four years to two and a half years. The hospital director, initially sentenced to six years in prison, had his sentence reduced to four.

During the trial, both doctors admitted to killing the baby.

Warning: This story contains details that some readers will find distressing.

This case came to light in 2024 after Kwon, who was in her 20s, posted a video on YouTube about terminating her pregnancy at 36 weeks, just over eight months.

The video caused a public stir and a criminal complaint by the Ministry of Health. Police then launched an investigation into her and her doctors.

The trial against Kwon and her doctors marked the first time murder charges were brought against a woman seeking a late termination of her pregnancy, as well as the doctors involved in the procedure.

While abortions were decriminalized in South Korea in 2019, there is no clear regulation on up to what point in pregnancy it can be performed.

Prosecutors in Kwon’s case said the baby was born alive via cesarean section and placed in a freezer until he died. Hospital staff then falsified Kwon’s medical records to make it appear he was stillborn, prosecutors said.

Kwon’s lawyer argued that she did not know the baby would be killed after being removed from her womb. This was also the argument on which his appeal depended.

The judge who issued the initial verdict in March ruled that Kwon knew the baby would be born alive via cesarean section.

But on Thursday, the appeals court ruled that that may not have been the case, since a runner had told Kwon that the baby would be stillborn.

Heekyoung Cho, executive director of Amnesty International Korea, said in a statement that the group welcomed the court’s decision to acquit Kwon, but added that the loophole in South Korea’s abortion law has “left pregnant people without clear legal protections and without access to essential reproductive health services.”

“The government must implement measures to remove barriers to access to safe abortion, as well as establish appropriate regulations on the provision of abortion services,” he said.

At the beginning of the trial, Kwon told the court that she only found out about her pregnancy seven months later and requested an abortion because she had no stable income. She also feared the baby would be born with defects, as she had drunk alcohol and smoked throughout the pregnancy, she said.

Kwon’s case has highlighted the legal loophole surrounding abortions in South Korea since the country’s Constitutional Court struck down a long-standing abortion ban in 2019.

At the time, the court recommended that parliament amend the law to allow abortions up to 22 weeks of pregnancy.

However, subsequent legislation drafted by the government was stalled due to opposition from conservative lawmakers on religious grounds.

When the removal of the ban came into effect in 2021, the country did not have legislation to regulate abortions.

This was taken into account during Kwon’s initial sentencing, and the court said it acted leniently considering that she could not receive support to cope with her late-stage pregnancy.