A couple has been arrested in South Korea for allegedly letting their real baby starve to death while raising a virtual child online.

Kim Yoo-chul, 41, and his wife Choi Mi-sun, 25, were addicted to online games, spending up to 12 hours every night at internet cafes, police said.

The pair called authorities in September last year to report their three-month-old daughter's death after returning from an all-night gaming session, ABC US reported.

Reports suggest she was neglected in favour of an avatar daughter created in the Korean multiplayer online game PRIUS.

According to police, the daughter was often left alone and unfed, receiving as little as one bottle of milk a day.

The couple also admitted to feeding her rotten powdered milk as well as spanking her whenever she cried.

An autopsy concluded the baby, who had been born prematurely, died of malnutrition.

The parents, who met in 2008 on an internet chat website, were both unemployed and lived with the wife’s mother, in Suwon, South Korea.

Multi-player gaming in South Korea is extremely popular thanks to its fast and widespread broadband network.

Games are televised and professional players are treated and paid like sports stars.

In 2005, a 28-year-old man dropped dead after playing his favourite game Starcraft for 50 hours non-stop.