Suspect says psychiatry department 'gave her diabetes' and 'ruined her life'
A suspect in her 50s who attacked a psychiatrist with a knife at Severance Hospital in Seoul's Sinchon neighborhood appeared in court Saturday for a detention hearing.
The Seoul Western District Court opened a pre-arrest detention hearing for the suspect, identified only by the surname initial A, at 3 p.m. Saturday. The suspect faces charges of attempted murder.
A is accused of pulling out a knife and slashing the face and hands of a psychiatry professor, identified only as Kang, in a fifth-floor examination room at Severance Hospital at around 4:35 p.m. Wednesday.
When A arrived at the courthouse at around 2:13 p.m. Saturday and reporters asked why the doctor had been attacked, A rambled incoherently. "In 2018, the psychiatry department at Yonsei University refused to give me internal medicine treatment and gave me diabetes," A said.
A then shouted that "Yonsei University turned me into a criminal" and that it had "ruined my life, destroyed my family and used me as a human guinea pig."
A did not respond when asked whether there was any remorse for the victim.
At the time of the attack, Professor Kang had called a different patient into the examination room. A is believed to have followed that patient inside before drawing the knife and striking.
Kang sustained a laceration about 5 centimeters long and was taken to the emergency room for treatment. The injury was not life-threatening.
The Seodaemun Police Station initially arrested A on charges of aggravated assault but later upgraded the charge to attempted murder after A told investigators a kitchen knife had been brought from home in a shopping bag, indicating premeditated intent to kill.
During the police investigation, A said the attack was motivated by a belief that Severance Hospital doctors had conspired with another facility to block A from receiving treatment there, investigators said.
The attack recalled a 2018 incident in which psychiatry professor Lim Se-won of Gangbuk Samsung Hospital was stabbed to death by a patient during a consultation on Dec. 31 of that year. In response, the National Assembly in April 2019 amended the Medical Service Act — commonly known as the "Lim Se-won Act" — to impose a prison term of up to seven years or a fine of up to 10 million won ($7,450) on anyone who injures a medical worker. Hospitals also strengthened safety measures, including installing rear-exit escape routes for staff to use if threatened by a patient.
Under current enforcement rules of the Medical Service Act, hospitals with 100 or more beds, psychiatric hospitals and general hospitals are required to station at least one dedicated security officer and to install emergency alarm systems capable of alerting the local police station in a crisis.
cook@heraldcorp.com
