The reality of an abortion business has been exposed.
The SBS investigative program 'Unanswered Questions,' which aired on September 12, traced the reality of an abortion business targeting pregnant women at advanced stages of gestation.
In June 2024, a woman 36 weeks pregnant—just a month before her due date—posted a vlog showing herself undergoing an abortion, causing widespread public uproar. The incident, which drew severe criticism as fetal homicide, led to a police investigation revealing that the pregnant woman, a woman in her 20s surnamed Kwon, underwent the abortion procedure at an obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Incheon.
The head of the clinic claimed that the fetus was already stillborn and that an emergency cesarean section was performed to extract it from the mother. Those present in the operating room at the time—including the operating surgeon, the anesthesiologist, and three nurse's aides—all testified that none of them checked the baby's condition or heard any crying.
However, through the investigation, an additional eyewitness account emerged stating that Clinic Director Yoon placed the delivered infant into a black plastic bag and put it in a freezer, and it was revealed that the infant, left neglected in the freezer for over two weeks, was later sent to a crematorium via a cremation agent.
A notebook discovered during a search and seizure at Clinic Director Yoon's clinic uncovered a shocking truth. It recorded as many as 527 pregnant women undergoing abortion surgeries over a two-year period, with financial amounts written next to each woman's name. Furthermore, 110 of them were at advanced gestational stages of 28 weeks or more, like Kwon, and in every one of these cases, the fetus was recorded as "stillborn."
Through its reporting, the program met women who had been offered abortion procedures by Clinic Director Yoon. It was revealed that Yoon had proposed abortions to expectant mothers for various reasons.
A significant number of parents who underwent the procedures at his suggestion said they heard their babies crying during the operation, leaving them traumatized to this day.
Eventually, after one year, the head of the clinic and the operating surgeon were detained. However, none of the clinic staff answered questions regarding the case.
The production team also met Kwon, the 36-week pregnant woman at the center of the controversy. She confessed, "I couldn't believe there was a baby inside my belly. I was smoking and drinking a lot at the time, so I thought giving birth wouldn't be good for the child either," adding, "I contacted them after seeing an advertisement saying surgery was possible regardless of the gestational age. They said surgery was only possible once the money was transferred, and the amount requested was 9 million won. I never imagined the baby would come out alive."
Kwon also revealed that the party she contacted was not the clinic directly, but a broker who connected her to the clinic. The broker reportedly told Kwon that the baby would be born stillborn.
Director Yoon had operated an obstetrics and gynecology clinic specializing in abortions since 2016. Being over 80 years old and unable to perform surgeries himself, he reportedly contacted an anesthesiologist and Shim, an operating surgeon who worked at a university hospital, to carry out the procedures. Consequently, the surgeries were always conducted on Shim's days off or after Shim's shift ended.
In addition, the clinic employed a dedicated counseling manager specializing in abortions. It was also revealed that a cremation agency handled the disposal of the remains.
The investigation confirmed that many clinics other than Yoon's are engaging in similar practices. A nurse who had worked part-time at a clinic specializing in abortion procedures stated, "Because the baby was too big, it was wrapped in a black plastic bag, frozen in the freezer, and then disposed of along with medical waste, and there was even someone who collected them professionally."
It was also reported that there were multiple coordinators in charge of abortion procedures, and their incentives were substantial. Furthermore, dedicated websites exist to promote abortion clinics, and many hospitals reportedly pay to place advertisements on them. The production team easily found price lists created by hospitals on such websites.
Through an undercover investigation, the team confirmed that one clinic demanded 15 million won for an abortion on a woman at 31 weeks of pregnancy, citing ethical concerns as the reason for the high fee. The clinic's counseling manager drew attention by insisting that same-day surgery was the rule, saying, "You can just consider it as the baby not breathing the moment it comes out."
The program explained that it decided to conduct the undercover reporting to shed light on a reality where abortion procedures are performed not on medical judgment or fetal viability, but entirely at the discretion of individual doctors' conscience and ethical boundaries.
While some argue that women desperately seeking abortions are the root of the problem, it was confirmed that many who undergo the procedure include underage mothers who realized their pregnancies late and had nowhere to turn for help. These minors often scrape together the money through illegal private loans or part-time jobs.
One underage informant stirred sympathy by sharing that she explored various avenues to give birth, but concluded it was impossible to deliver and raise a child alone, ultimately deciding on an abortion.
Kwon also stated that she initially thought viewers would comfort her after watching the video, but following the controversy, she came to realize her actions were wrong and felt remorse. She said, "If I could go back two years, I wouldn't have had the surgery," adding that if even a single person had tried to persuade and support her back then, the outcome would have been different.
An expert remarked regarding Kwon, "It appears she could not emotionally cope with the realities surrounding childbirth," adding, "Many expectant mothers carry their pregnancies to full term due to pregnancy concealment or denial, reaching an extreme traumatic state where their judgment collapses completely. In psychiatric terms, it is an emergency."
Prosecutors indicted Kwon on murder charges. An appellate court ruled that she lacked intent to kill and acquitted her of murder charges, leading the prosecution to appeal.
An expert pointed out that the 36-week abortion vlog is, in a word, "the greatest damage caused by a legislative vacuum," noting, "Because the state has not established clear standards, neither the fetus nor the woman was protected. Had a law been enacted, an abortion at 36 weeks could not have taken place."
Following the decriminalization of abortion, a seven-year legislative void has persisted without alternative measures. Politicians offered the explanation that "this is a contentious issue where social consensus is difficult to achieve, making compromise hard due to conflicting interests."
However, a legal expert criticized this stance, saying, "Claiming that social consensus is difficult is an abstract excuse," and emphasized, "There has been no process of deep deliberation whatsoever. Failing to advance more substantive discussions is a failure of responsibility on the part of the state."
An obstetrician-gynecologist also stressed, "The fact that women's health and fetal safety remain outside the bounds of legal protection in our country is a truly shameful reality. It must be improved one way or another."
Finally, the broadcast stated that the program was produced in the hope that "the cruel taking of lives of infants who come into the world alive will not be repeated, that mothers contemplating abortion will not be unilaterally condemned as irresponsible, and that the lives and safety of mothers and fetuses will not be traded as moneymaking tools in a legal blind spot."
The program closed by emphasizing that reaching a social consensus on medical ethics and legal standards must no longer be delayed.
(Edited by Kim Hyo-jeong)
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