Seongnam Mayor Sin Sang-jin took to social media Wednesday to voice alarm over a police raid on a pediatric emergency room, writing, "I'm truly worried about why people are acting so thoughtlessly."
Sin, a former senior lawmaker and People Power Party member, has built a reputation as a politician of firm convictions — notably for his sharp criticism of the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's handling of the medical crisis during his first term as mayor.
"Since the founding of the police, there has never been a search and seizure of a pediatric emergency room," Sin said. "The police should be criticized for pushing ahead with an excessive investigation without consulting any experts."
He added that having investigators enter and search an emergency room where medical staff are fighting to save the lives of critically ill children "is an enormous shock to healthcare workers who have never experienced anything so harsh." He warned it could leave them with "a desperate sense that they are not even protected in the very emergency rooms where they are fighting to save children's lives."
"The police authorities and the government must take this matter seriously and responsibly, and work to resolve it before it leads to a loss of pediatric emergency medical personnel and a collapse in care," he added.
Earlier, the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency raided a pediatric emergency medical center on Sept. 30 in connection with the death of a child who had been receiving treatment at Ajou University Hospital in July.
The medical community has since pushed back, accusing police of conducting an excessive forced investigation that disrupted care in an operating emergency room. The controversy also drew fire at a comprehensive national audit session of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee.
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