"As My Daughter Was Dying"... 21 Missing Minutes of CCTV Footage at Yang Jae-woong's Hospital

The bereaved family of a patient who died while hospitalized at a psychiatric clinic run by psychiatrist Yang Jae-woong has claimed that police failed to conduct a proper investigation despite 21 minutes of CCTV footage missing from the time of death.

The mother of the deceased patient appeared as a reference witness yesterday (October 13) at the parliamentary audit of the Gyeonggi Nambu and Bukbu Provincial Police Agencies by the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee.

The mother stated that her daughter was hospitalized to treat her dependency on diet pills, but died in an isolation room just 17 days later.

In particular, she testified that for several days before her death, her daughter complained of severe stomach pain and pleaded to be sent to an emergency room, but failed to receive proper treatment.

The bereaved family also argued that there were flaws in the police's initial response.

The mother said that immediately after her daughter died, she requested CCTV footage from the hospital and received it 12 hours later, but a 21-minute block during the early morning hours when her daughter was dying was missing.

She pointed out that despite this, police only raided the hospital six months after the death.

The mother further claimed that the investigation was effectively halted under the pretext of delays in evaluation by the Korean Medical Association.

She stated that while the police investigation was delayed, the National Human Rights Commission first confirmed the falsification of nursing records and illegal physical restraints carried out without a doctor's orders.

Criticizing the investigative process, the mother asked, "I want to ask what the police, who even conducted a search and seizure, have been doing all this time."

Lawmakers attending the audit also took issue with the police response.

People Power Party lawmaker Yeji pointed out that if police had secured the electronic medical records and access logs immediately after the incident, they could have checked whether records were altered, but police neglected to do so.

Lawmaker Kang Myeong-gu of the same party similarly criticized the police for failing to conduct a proper investigation for six months and belatedly resuming reinvestigations only after the National Human Rights Commission's probe.

In response, Kim Hong-geun, acting head of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, partially acknowledged shortcomings in the initial response regarding the failure to secure electronic records and other materials on the day of the incident.

When asked to take action against those responsible for the investigation, he replied that he would clarify the wrongdoings and then establish a formal stance.

Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Kim Kihyun | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.