"Bringing Shame to Korea"... Man Who Disappeared After Filipino Girlfriend's Pregnancy Was Married

At 19, met on a dating app
Disappeared after showing a pregnancy test photo
Whistleblower caught approaching a Filipino friend again

A local Filipino woman reported that her Korean boyfriend 'disappeared' after learning about her pregnancy. JTBC's 'Sageon Banjang' and others covered the story of a 23-year-old woman who is seven months pregnant. The woman claimed, "The father of the child is a Korean man named Mr. A," and said, "I met him on a dating app when I was 19."

Mr. A introduced himself as being in his twenties at the time and communicated with her. It is known that they became a couple in 2022. He visited the Philippines once a year and stayed for about 7 to 14 days. The woman stated, "Mr. A often talked about 'marriage,'" and she also introduced him to her family. She became pregnant in January.

[Photo by JTBC 'Sageon Banjang']

After informing Mr. A about the pregnancy, his attitude changed. He allegedly urged her to have an abortion and then disappeared. The woman tried to contact him multiple times, but he did not answer and deleted his social media accounts. She found out about Mr. A’s whereabouts in March when he contacted another Filipino woman through the dating app. This woman was a friend of the complainant.

The complainant’s friend confronted Mr. A, saying, "Why did you leave my friend?" and "You are the father and should be by her side." Mr. A denied it, saying, "I think you are mistaken with someone else." When the friend asked him to contact the complainant, Mr. A said, "This is my first visit to the Philippines," and "I am already married," then cut off contact again.

Later, a Korean YouTuber also searched for Mr. A’s whereabouts. The Korean YouTuber (Mr. One’s Philippine Life) and subscribers tracked Mr. A using messenger IDs and claimed, "Mr. A is a married man in his 40s. He is 10 years older than he initially told the complainant and has a wife and children."

[Photo by JTBC 'Sageon Banjang']

The complainant told 'Sageon Banjang,' "I feel sorry for Mr. A’s wife and child," and added, "I have no intention of terminating the pregnancy. If I can get in touch with Mr. A, I want to at least receive child support."

Previously, in a lawsuit filed by a woman who gave birth to a Kopino (a mixed-race child born to a Korean and a Filipino) in October last year, a Korean court ruled that the Korean man must pay child support. There have been frequent cases where Korean men visiting the Philippines for language study or travel abandoned responsibility for children born to Filipino women, raising social concerns.

Subsequently, legal measures were established against so-called 'bad dads' who do not pay child support despite court orders. This applies to non-custodial parents who fail to pay child support exceeding 30 million KRW or who have been delinquent in payments three or more times. In such cases, sanctions include public disclosure of the parent's name, travel bans, and driver's license suspension.