A video posted by the mother to her YouTube channel documenting her abortion procedure at 36 weeks of pregnancy. [YouTube capture/Newsis]
A video posted by the mother to her YouTube channel documenting her abortion procedure at 36 weeks of pregnancy. [YouTube capture/Newsis]

A hospital director and the surgeon who delivered and killed a fetus at 36 weeks of pregnancy had their sentences reduced on appeal. The mother, convicted as an accomplice to murder in the first trial, was acquitted after the court found she may have believed the fetus was stillborn inside the womb and did not know it would be killed after being born alive.

The Seoul High Court's Fifth Criminal Division, presided over by Chief Judge Kim Yong-seok, sentenced hospital director Yun on Thursday to four years in prison, a fine of 1.5 million won ($1,010) and a surcharge of 9 million won. Surgeon Shim, who performed the operation, received two years and six months.

The appellate court, as in the first trial, upheld the guilty verdict against Yun and Shim for performing a cesarean section on the patient, surnamed Kwon, who was 34 to 36 weeks pregnant, in June 2024, then killing the fetus by covering it with a square cloth and placing it in a freezer. The first trial had sentenced Yun to six years in prison and Shim to four years.

Kwon, the mother, had received a three-year suspended sentence with a five-year probation period in the first trial but was acquitted on appeal. The court found that at the time of the procedure Kwon had believed the fetus would be delivered stillborn, and that there was no evidence she knew the doctor would kill the fetus after it was born alive.

The ruling overturned the first trial's finding that Kwon had acted with contingent intent to commit murder.

The appellate court said Kwon had asked brokers to inquire of the medical staff whether the baby had come out stillborn, and that a broker had told her it had. "There is no evidence that Kwon knew the broker's answer was made without any medical knowledge and without actually consulting the medical staff," the court said.

The court also found that while Kwon had not actively confirmed with the medical team during the procedure whether the fetus had been born alive, this was because she had already been told through the broker that it would be delivered stillborn.

Although Kwon had signed a consent form before the procedure delegating to the hospital the handling of the fetus, the court said this could not be seen as her having consented to the medical staff killing a fetus born alive.

The court added that Kwon had filmed and posted a video of her recovery on YouTube, and said it was "difficult to readily accept" that she would have uploaded the footage to a public channel while knowing the fetus had been artificially killed after being removed from her body.

Regarding Yun and Shim, the court said: "It is hard to imagine the terror the victim must have faced while struggling to live. Murder harms human life, which is an absolute value, and cannot be justified for any reason."

However, the court noted that "a pregnant woman's right to decide whether to continue a pregnancy falls under the right to self-determination derived from the general right to personality guaranteed by the Constitution," and said it had taken into account that the crime originated from Kwon's decision to terminate the pregnancy when determining the sentence.

The fact that the defendants acknowledged their crimes in court and showed remorse was also reflected as a mitigating factor in sentencing.


bbo@heraldcorp.com