Opposition on Ajou Pediatric ER Raid Controversy: "Police Must Probe Abuse of Power"

Fallout as center specialists announce mass resignation
"If the pediatric ER collapses, children will bear the consequences"

The opposition said on Wednesday, regarding the doctors at Ajou University’s Pediatric Emergency Medical Center announcing their intention to resign en masse after police searched the center, “The National Police Agency must conduct an internal inspection to determine beyond any doubt whether there was an abuse of authority or a coercive investigation, and hold those responsible strictly accountable.”

Lim Ija, policy committee chair of the People Power Party, said in a social media post that day: “What kind of police force is this, if it makes medical staff trying to save patients’ hands tremble and turns a place where critically ill children are treated into a scene of terror through a search? This is heavy-handed abuse of authority and bullying.”

Yonhap News Agency

Earlier, the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency searched Ajou University Hospital and its Pediatric Emergency Medical Center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on September 30 in connection with the case of a child who died after receiving treatment there. The medical community protested that the search, conducted two months after the incident, disrupted medical care, while police said they had consulted with the hospital in advance. It was later reported that seven of the center’s nine pediatric emergency medicine specialists had informed the hospital of their intention to resign.

“What doctor would stay in a pediatric emergency room when investigators barge in and force a search while another child is fighting for their life, even taking the names of staff on duty at the time and invoking the threat of legal action?” Lim said. “The consequences will fall squarely on hundreds of thousands of children and parents in southern Gyeonggi Province.”

Lim added, “The fact is that the reckless and arrogant conduct of some police officers is trampling on the reputation of the vast majority of ‘true police officers serving the people,’ who are devoted to their work on the front lines even at this very moment. The abuse of power and bullying by some officers are eroding public trust in the entire 140,000-strong police force.”

Assemblywoman Kim Eunhye, chair of the People Power Party’s Gyeonggi Provincial Party, also planned to hold a closed-door meeting with the Gyeonggi-do Medical Association at the party’s provincial headquarters that afternoon to discuss measures related to the case.

Assemblyman Lee Jooyoung of the New Reform Party, a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, also held a press conference, saying, “I understand that police arrived before the medical team had even finished treating patients that day.” He added, “The presumption of innocence applies even in cases involving verbal or physical abuse against medical staff, but the medical professionals who fought hard to save patients were treated as if they were guilty until proven innocent.”

“Ajou University Hospital has courageously cared for and protected pediatric patients from across the country with great passion and dedication,” Lee said. “If even people who worked that hard are treated as potential criminals, who on earth will do the job? If the pediatric emergency room is killed off, we will all be complicit.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.