Seoul National University Hospital corrects cause of activist's death

Kim Yeon-soo, vice president of the Seoul National University Hospital, vows his head to apologize its mistaken diagnosis of death of activist Baek Nam-gi during a media briefing at the hospital in Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap

By Jung Min-ho

Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) admitted, Thursday, it had made a mistake in determining the cause of death of an activist who died following a protest march in 2015.

SNUH said it officially changed the cause of death of Baek Nam-gi to external injuries from being hit by a police water cannon from cardiopulmonary arrest from natural causes.

Baek, who participated in an anti-government protest in Seoul two years ago, was knocked down by a police water cannon and remained comatose for 10 months until his death.

But Paek Sun-ha, the SNUH doctor who was in charge of his treatment, sparked controversy by denying that the 69-year-old farmer died from being hit by the water cannon, which brought thousands of people to the streets in protest.

Protesters criticized the doctor for toeing the line with former President Park Geun-hye by “twisting science.”

Apparently concerned about the same criticism, SNUH vice president Kim Yeon-soo told reporters its decision to change his cause of death is “not politically motivated.”

“I want to apologize to the victim’s family who have suffered for such a long time,” he said. “We will create an ethics committee to ensure that such incidents will never happen again.”

Baek Doraji, the daughter of the late activist, welcomed the decision to correct the document and expressed her relief.

She also noted her family will proceed with administrative procedures for her father’s death, which they hesitated carrying out because of the previous “completely nonsensical” diagnosis.