Lee Jong-rak, a pastor of Jusarang Community Church, has been taking care of abandoned babies through baby box since 2009, saving more than 1,500 newborns. Korea Times photo by Jung Hae-myoung



By Jung Hae-myoung



Lee Jong-rak, the pastor of Jusarang Community Church, received a desperate phone call at 3:20 a.m. in April 2007.



"Over the phone, a woman kept apologizing and saying she left her baby in front of the church door," Lee said.



When he went outside, a cat jumped from a fish box in front of the door. Inside the box was a baby with a cold body. Lee said she died when he hugged her to his chest.



"Until 2009, many babies were abandoned in places like garbage boxes, bathrooms and subway station lockers," Lee said. "One day I saw a news article that the Czech Republic has a baby box for discarded babies."



Lee immediately adopted the idea and became the first to establish a baby box in Korea. He started in 2009 and has been running it for over 10 years so that parents who cannot afford to raise a child can put babies in a safe place as a last resort.



"It was to save just one more life," he said.





Baby box offers a space with heat for newborns to stay warm when they are abandoned, and a bell for the mothers to ring when they leave the child. / Korea Times photo by Jung Hae-myoung