Her trouble began when she found out after registering in the program that she was six months pregnant with her Vietnamese boyfriend’s child.

After deliberation, she decided to push ahead with her academic plans without alerting her parents of her pregnancy. But her life in Korea since Jan. 8 was far from rosy. With patchy language skills and no local friends, she spent most of her time confined to her dormitory room.

As her family could not afford a well-to-do lifestyle, and she feared the news of her pregnancy might adversely affect her school life, she did not go to an obstetrician. Instead, she used her money to stock up on diapers and powdered milk.  

Her labor began a month prematurely on March 30, and she gave birth to a boy in her dormitory toilet cubicle. The baby, small and weak, died while she was preparing powdered milk.

Police autopsy later confirmed that she did not intend the infant to die.

The young mother, together with her friend -- of the same age and nationality -- came up with an unusual plan for the dead newborn.

They expected if they left his body in a busy place, someone would find him and give the baby a Korean-style funeral.

The plan was immediately put into action. The women dressed the baby, wrapped him in a towel, placed him in a shopping bag and left him in the Uijeongbu Subway Station.

When the police tracked them down a day later through surveillance camera records, the mother was recovering from labor at the friend’s place.

She is now regretting what she had done and is mourning for the baby, according to the police.

Under Korean criminal law, illegal disposal of dead infants is punishable by 2 years in jail or under 3 million won ($2,600) fine. 

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)