A serving female police officer who caused a disturbance at a hospital emergency room while intoxicated has been sentenced to a fine in her appellate trial as well.

On June 25, the Chuncheon District Court’s Gangneung Branch (Presiding Judge Oh Kwon-cheol) dismissed the prosecution's appeal and upheld the original verdict of a 10 million won fine for Police Officer A, who was charged with violating the Emergency Medical Service Act.

Officer A, who was a member of the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency's Mobile Patrol Unit at the time, was indicted for obstructing emergency medical services by causing a commotion at a hospital emergency room in Gangneung at approximately 11:35 p.m. on May 27, 2024, after becoming dissatisfied with the medical treatment process.

According to the indictment, Officer A visited the emergency room while intoxicated, claiming she had fallen and injured herself. She became angry, alleging that the medical staff was being unkind and intended to perform a CT scan only on her face instead of a full-body CT scan.

Officer A shouted at a nurse, "My whole body hurts, why are you only scanning my face?" and "Perform a full-body CT." She also pushed a doctor in the chest after telling the physician, who was asking about her symptoms, "I'm not doing it here" and "I'm not doing it because it's disgusting."

When the nurse asked, "Why do you keep getting annoyed?" she retorted, "Don't you get annoyed when you're in pain?" and "Do you treat your own family like this?"

She also followed the nurse, shouting profanities and yelling, "Hey, call the police, I'm a cop," "That's funny," and "Report everything," causing a disturbance in the emergency room for about 20 minutes.

The hospital, unable to properly perform its duties due to the disturbance, eventually called 112.

In August of that same year, the Gangwon Provincial Police Agency held a disciplinary committee meeting and demoted her from the rank of police sergeant to police officer.

The first-instance court explained the sentencing, stating, "The nature of the crime is not light, as she used verbal abuse and physical force against doctors and nurses and obstructed emergency medical services while receiving treatment," but added that it "considered the fact that she admitted her wrongdoing, is reflecting on her actions, and is a first-time offender."

The appellate court dismissed the prosecution's appeal, which argued that the original sentence was inappropriate, stating that "the original sentencing was appropriate."

(Photo: Yonhap News)