The Korean Society of Pediatric Emergency Medicine has strongly criticized last month's police search and seizure operation at the Pediatric Emergency Medical Center of Ajou University Hospital, repeatedly calling for a formal apology from the police.

In a statement, the society emphasized, "Expressing regret rather than offering an apology is an insult to the medical staff," adding, "Following the parliamentary audit, additional resignations are being submitted by medical staff at the hospital's pediatric emergency center amid extreme humiliation, fatigue, and despair."

This was a criticism of Ham Young-wook, head of the Metropolitan Investigation Unit at the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency, who attended yesterday's parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Health and Welfare as a witness and responded that he "finds the situation regrettable" when lawmakers asked if he intended to apologize.

According to Ajou University Hospital, 7 out of 9 medical specialists at the hospital's Pediatric Emergency Medical Center recently expressed their intent to resign.

The society demanded that "the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency immediately apologize to the medical staff and the public for obstructing treatment and providing false testimony," while also urging the police to establish and disclose guidelines for emergency room dispatches and on-site responses—currently being discussed with the Ministry of Health and Welfare—by November.

"If these demands are not met, the medical staff will leave en masse on their own accord," the society warned, adding, "We sternly warn that the police bear full responsibility for any paralysis of pediatric emergency care and harm to young patients that may arise from this."

(Photo: Capture from the Ajou University Hospital website, Yonhap News)