Two women on trial for killing their children ahead of suicide attempts were sentenced to prison, with a judge calling the parents’ act nothing but “extreme child abuse,” Ulsan District Court said Monday.

In the two separate cases, the defendants, aged 42 and 40, were each sentenced to four years behind bars last week, according to Ulsan District Court.

“This is a form of extreme child abuse. As many experts point out, ‘double-suicides’ cannot be glamorized or embellished. The essence of the crime is killing one’s child with her own hands,” Chief Judge Park Ju-young said.

Park added the crimes should not to regarded as “personal issues,” saying social safety nets have to be modified to protect minors.

The 42-year-old defendant allegedly killed her 2-year-old son in December 2018, after which she tried to take her own life.

Although she survived, her cognitive skills were believed to have declined significantly after losing consciousness for three days.

The 40-year-old defendant killed her 9-year-old daughter, who had developmental disabilities, last year.

The woman is believed to have suffered depression dating back to November 2017 due to parenting-related extreme stress.

She decided to take her and her daughter’s lives after her spouse also developed mental illness when his mother died last year.

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)