170 cm tall and just 34 kg... Daughter who neglected her sick father until he died of malnutrition ate tteokbokki alone

[Financial News]  A woman in her 30s has been sentenced to prison for leaving her ailing elderly father without food or care, causing him to die of malnutrition.
According to Yonhap News and other outlets on the 20th, the 13th Criminal Division of Incheon District Court, presided over by Judge Kim Gi-pung, said it had sentenced A, 39, to three years and six months in prison for causing the death of an ascendant through abandonment.
A was indicted on charges of causing her father, B, 76, to die by failing to provide him with proper meals and care at their home in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, from June through July 22 last year.
Investigators found that B, due to his advanced age and declining strength, was unable to eat or use the toilet on his own, but A did not take her father to a hospital or care facility. She reportedly did not give him even the meals and side dishes that neighbors had brought, and sometimes ate cup tteokbokki alone on the building's stairs.
B had also gone outside to buy food on May 30 last year, but collapsed and was diagnosed with general weakness at a nearby hospital. Earlier, on the 13th of the same month, the local administrative welfare center had registered B for case management and provided lunch boxes and food. There were reportedly occasions when staff left them outside his home and went back because A would not open the door. It was determined that A kept the door locked and refused to let welfare center staff in when they visited four days before her father died, and that she also drove them away and shut the door on the day he died.
B eventually died at around 6:37 p.m. on July 22 last year from an electrolyte imbalance caused by malnutrition and other factors. At the time of his death, he was just 170 cm tall and weighed 34 kg.
Police officers and paramedics responding to a report later forced open the door and found B lying in poor conditions. 
A, who usually lived on rental income and an old-age pension, was found to have visited the administrative welfare center and applied for and received the first livelihood recovery support payment on the day her father died.
During the trial, A argued, in effect, “I had no intention of abandoning my father because I had cared for him continuously, and there was no causal link between my actions and his death,” but the court rejected her argument.
The court condemned her, saying, “The defendant had a duty to support and protect her father, who was unable to manage daily life and needed treatment, yet left him unattended for a long time, causing his death,” and “In view of the duration of the crime and its profoundly unfilial nature, the offense is very grave.”
The court explained its sentencing rationale, saying, “Although the defendant recognized the need for treatment as the victim’s condition rapidly deteriorated and received some assistance from welfare officials, she left the victim unattended for a long time without providing even the most basic care,” and “The victim appears to have suffered considerable mental and physical pain until his death.”
[email protected] Kim Su-yeon Reporter