Gamer Dad Arrested After Toddler Dies of Neglect

A South Korean man has been arrested on suspicion of allowing his 2-year-old son to starve to death while he spent days playing online games at Internet cafés.

The 22-year-old, surnamed Chung, was arrested Monday after the badly decomposed body of a toddler was found in a trash bag near the southeastern city of Daegu, reports Agence France-Presse. The unemployed Chung took care of the child after his wife began working in a factory far from the city in late February.

Compulsive online gaming is already a huge worry for authorities in Seoul, where lawmakers are weighing up whether to classify the activity as potentially addictive as drugs, alcohol or gambling.

In 2009, a couple let their 3-month-old baby starve to death while they played a video game on raising a virtual child, in a case that horrified the entire nation.

[AFP]