"At That Moment, My Daughter Was Dying": 21 Missing Minutes of CCTV Footage at Yang Jae-woong's Hospital

The bereaved family of a patient who died at a psychiatric hospital 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 admitted to the hospital to treat her addiction to diet pills, but died in an isolation room after just 17 days.

In particular, she testified that for days before her death, her daughter pleaded to be sent to an emergency room because of stomach pain, but did not receive proper treatment.

The bereaved family also claimed that there were problems with the initial police investigation.

The mother said that immediately after her daughter's death, she requested CCTV footage from the hospital and received it 12 hours later, but 21 minutes of footage from the early morning hours when her daughter was dying were missing.

Despite this, she pointed out that the police conducted a search and seizure at the hospital only six months after the death.

The mother also claimed that the investigation was effectively stalled on the grounds that the Korean Medical Association's review was delayed.

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 investigation process, the mother asked, "I want to ask what the police have been doing all this time, given that they even conducted a search and seizure."

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

People Power Party lawmaker Kim Yeji pointed out that if the electronic medical records and access logs had been secured immediately after the incident, it would have been possible to check whether the records had been altered, but the police neglected to do so.

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

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

Regarding the demand for disciplinary measures against the person in charge of the investigation, he replied that he would clarify the wrongdoing and then state his position.

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