A Korean husband and wife are facing criminal charges after their baby daughter died when they left her alone in order to play World of Warcraft.

According to news site Chosun, police say the parents left their four month-old child alone in a bedroom while they went to play the MMORPG at a local Internet cafe.

When they returned five hours later, the baby was lying on her stomach and had died of suffocation.

"We were thinking of playing for just an hour or two and returning home like usual, but the game took longer that day," the couple is reported as saying.

Advertisement
Following a police investigation, the husband and wife will be required to defend their actions in court.

"It's unfortunate, because the tragedy could have been averted if the couple had just left their daughter with Yu's mother-in-law, who lived upstairs from them," said police.

"We booked the pair on criminal charges, judging that when you consider the situation, they were responsible for their daughter's death."