Gov’t calls blacklist of ER doctors inexcusable crime

Sep 11, 2024, 09:32 am

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A patient is moved to an emergency room at a large hospital in Seoul on Sept. 10, 2024./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporters Hong Sun-mi & Jung Min-hoon

Police have launched an investigation into the so-called “blacklist of emergency room doctors” case which exposed personal details of doctors working emergency shifts.

The presidential office and political circles called for a stern response to the case. There was also a voice of self-reflection in the medical community.

The National Investigation Headquarter of the National Police Agency said on Tuesday that it transferred the blacklist of emergency room doctors case, requested by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, to the Cyber Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Policy Agency the previous day.

The cyber investigation department of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has allocated the case to the first cyber investigation unit and is reviewing related data.

An online post was uploaded to a website believed to be made by doctors and showed the list of doctors who currently serve at hospital emergency rooms, calling them “forced laborers” and derisively expressing gratitude for their “hard work.”

When the list has been circulated, the health ministry requested police probe, calling such acts an “inexcusable crime.”

Currently, the police are investigating a total of five people, including three publishers of access links such as archives, on charges of aiding and abetting a violation of the Stalking Punishment Act.

“The act of malicious disclosure of the list is considered a serious criminal act, and we will respond promptly and strictly to the extent allowed by the law, such as pursuing an arrest investigation for serious offenders,” an official at the National Police Agency’s National Investigation Headquarters said.

The presidential office and political circles have called for a strict response. “We will respond strictly with impure intentions to prevent medical staff who returned with good faith from working,” a high-ranking official of the presidential office said. Rep. Choo Kyung-ho of the ruling People Power Party (PPP) also urged, “Illegal behaviors that maliciously interfere with medical treatment should be stopped immediately.”

The Korean Medical Association issued a press release on the same day, stating, “We express serious regret about the conflict within the medical community and the concern to the people due to the creation and distribution of blacklist of the emergency room doctors.”

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