A South Korean couple who left their baby to starve to death while raising a "virtual child" on the internet have been jailed.
The 41-year-old husband and his wife, 25, were arrested in March for leaving their daughter to die while they spent hours at internet cafes.
A district court at Suweon, south of Seoul, sentenced the husband to two years in jail, but suspended the wife's two-year jail term since she is pregnant with a second child.
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"The defendants' prematurely born daughter needed constant care, but they did not feed the baby and even beat her, while indulging in online games," the court said in a ruling.
'Inhumane, unforgiveable' crime
"This constitutes an inhumane and anti-humanitarian crime which cannot be forgivable under any circumstances."
The case shocked South Korea. The month after the pair's arrest, the government announced tougher rules to combat internet game addiction, including a "fatigue" system encouraging players to switch off.
Under the new rules, three major game operators will have to introduce a shutdown program from September and younger users will be limited to a time period set by a parent or guardian.
In March, a 32-year-old man died after reportedly playing for five days with few breaks. A similar incident involving a 28-year-old man occurred in 2005.
Official data esimates that the highly-wired nation has two million web addicts, representing almost 10 per cent of total online users.
