Police reported abuse cases involving a record 13,037 children to child consultation centers between January and June, up 29.6 percent from a year earlier, the National Police Agency said Thursday.

The number represented a 2.47-fold jump from the same period in 2011, when the agency began to compile half-yearly data for such children.

Police took law enforcement actions on 317 cases, also the largest ever half-year number, involving 320 children.

The number of children who died in cases covered by law enforcement actions fell to 10, a record low.

People increasingly reported suspected child abuse cases to police amid growing public awareness of the problem, an NPA official said.

The official also said more proactive intervention by police also added to the increase in child abuse reports and law enforcement actions, as well as the decline in deaths.

Emotional abuse, including violence to spouses or other relatives in front of children, affected 7,768 of the total number of abused children, up 37.0 percent from a year before.

Physical violence affected 3,471 children, up 20.1 percent, while 1,715 children suffered neglect, including failing to feed children, up 18.8 percent, and 83 were subjected to sexual abuse, up 48.2 percent.

In the same period, police acted on a record 788 cases of child pornography production or distribution, involving 325 victims, up 23 cases from a year earlier.