Police Transfer Woman in Her 50s in Custody on Attempted Murder Charges in 'Severance Doctor Attack' Case

Charged with attempted murder, violating the Medical Service Act, and obstruction of business
Followed another patient into a consultation room and wielded a weapon

A woman in her 50s who stabbed and injured a professor of psychiatry with a weapon at Sinchon Severance Hospital in Seoul has been transferred to the Prosecution Office while in custody.

The Seodaemun Police Station in Seoul said on Nov. 13 that it had transferred the woman, identified as A, to the Seoul Western District Prosecution Office while in custody on charges including attempted murder, violating the Medical Service Act, and obstruction of business.

A woman in her 50s who wielded a weapon against a psychiatrist at Sinchon Severance Hospital is appearing for a pre-arrest warrant hearing at the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the 7th. Yonhap News

According to police, A is suspected of wielding a weapon and injuring a professor of psychiatry in a consultation room on the fifth floor of the main building at Sinchon Severance Hospital in Seoul's Seodaemun-gu at around 4:35 p.m. on Nov. 4.

The professor had called another patient into the consultation room. Investigators found that A followed the patient into the room, took out a weapon she had prepared in advance, and committed the attack. Hospital staff subdued A immediately afterward. Police officers who responded to a report arrested her at the scene at around 4:42 p.m. that day.

The professor suffered cuts about 5 cm long to the face and hands and was taken to the emergency room for treatment. The injuries were not life-threatening.

Police initially charged A with aggravated assault causing injury, but later changed the charge to attempted murder, concluding that she had intended to kill. This decision was based on statements including her account that she had brought a kitchen knife from home in a shopping bag. Police also added charges of assaulting and injuring a medical professional in violation of the Medical Service Act and obstructing the professor's patient care duties.

During questioning, A reportedly claimed that a doctor at Severance Hospital had conspired with medical staff at another hospital to interfere with her treatment. As she appeared for a hearing on a detention warrant on Nov. 7, she also said, "In 2018, the psychiatry department at Yonsei University refused to treat my internal medicine condition and gave me diabetes," and "Yonsei University made me a criminal."

On Nov. 7, the court issued a detention warrant for A, citing concerns that she might flee.

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