An obstetrician has been sentenced to three years and six months in prison for killing a baby who “burst out crying” during abortion procedures.

The Seoul Central District Court on Friday convicted the doctor, 65, called ‘Yun’, of killing a 34-week-old baby and suspended Yun’s medical license for three years.

“Medical staff who participated in the operation have consistently said they heard the baby crying,” a three-judge panel of the court said in a statement. “It is clear that the doctor killed the baby, who was born alive.”

Yun, who ran a maternity clinic in Seoul, received 28 million won (€21,000) for the operation from the mother of a pregnant girl, 16. Yun was later indicted on murder charges for putting the live baby in a bucket of water.

Last year, the Constitutional Court ruled that the law banning abortion was unconstitutional and demanded the National Assembly revise it by the end of 2020.

The court ruled that abortion before 22 weeks of pregnancy should be decriminalised, saying women’s rights to self-determination outweighs an unborn child’s right to life.