Surgeon hailed for miracle recovery of heroic captain

Lee Cook-jong, director of the Ajou University Hospital Trauma Center in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province / Korea Times

Lee Cook-jong recalls pressure of treating high-profile patient

By Kang Hyun-kyung

SUWON, Gyeonggi Province — Two civilians emerged as unexpected heroes following 30 Korean commandos' successful rescue of 21 crew members abducted by Somali pirates near the Gulf of Aden in Africa in 2011.

One was Seok Hae-kyun, then a 58-year-old captain shot by the captors after he helped the rescuers in the face of life-threatening circumstances; the other was surgeon Lee Cook-jong, who saved the captain's life.

In retrospect, Lee, director of the Suwon-based Ajou University Hospital Trauma Center, said treating the heroic captain was like a high-stakes poker game because the outcome of such a high-profile surgery could have made or broken his career as a surgeon.

Lee, 46, said he knew that if things had gone badly, the university hospital, where he has worked for many years, would have also suffered the consequences.

Surgeon Lee Cook-jong, right, speaks with gunshot patient Seok Hae-kyun, the former captain of the chemical freighter Samho Jewelry, in this photo taken in February 2011. Seok was shot six times during a Korean commando operation to rescue the crew members and retake the ship on Jan. 21, the same year. / Courtesy of Ajou University Hospital

However, Lee said he was determined to take such risks four years ago because he was deeply moved by the brave captain, who stood up against the Somali pirates who forced him to cooperate in their plot to swap hostages for ransom. The captain's heroic act cost him six bullets to the body, which later put him in critical condition.

Lee described the captain as a man of integrity who would not compromise with bad guys under any circumstances.

"Captain Seok has an uncompromising sprit," Lee said during an interview with The Korea Times on July 30 at his office.

"He is quite straightforward. And I think he has been trained to be so through his work. When you face a storm in the oceans, for example, you cannot compromise with it. You either survive after successfully fighting against it or you die when your ship sinks because of it. There is no middle ground."

Lee, who also served as a deckhand in the Navy during his mandatory military service in the early 1990s, said Seok shared some common traits with people with a Navy background.

Those who finish medical school serve as medical officers in the military. Lee joined the military while in his fourth year of medical school because his family couldn't afford to pay his tuition.

The intensive care unit of Ajou hospital where Captain Seok Hae-kyun was taken after surgery, was decorated with the national and Navy flags. The Korean Navy song was also played inside the unit. Surgeon Lee Cook-jong used the psychological remedy to cheer up his patient.
/ Courtesy of Ajou University Hospital

The surgeon said that Seok is a typical seaman.

"People say seamen are rough because they are unwilling to compromise. It's true that they are straightforward, but they are also warm people."

Under the operation code named "Operation of Dawn of Gulf of Aden," 30 Korean commandos stormed the chemical freight ship Samho Jewelry on Jan. 21, 2011, six days after the ship was taken by 13 Somali pirates en route from the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka.

The maritime operation saved all crew members and claimed the lives of eight captors.

The saga of the Korean commandos' operation drew media frenzy partly because it was Korea's first maritime rescue operation against Somali pirates.

Since 2006, several Korean vessels and their crew members had been taken hostage by pirates in the African seas and many of them were released after ship owners paid unspecified but astronomical ransoms to the captors.

Some ship owners went bankrupt as a result. The Korean government's decision to rescue the crew members and retake the ship, despite many risks, came against the backdrop.

Seok played a significant role in the successful maritime operation near the Gulf of Aden.

He mixed water with engine oil in an attempt to stop the ship from moving and then backtracked it when his first attempt didn't work as intended in order to give the Korean commandoes more time to catch up with the vessel.

After recognizing the captain's delaying tactics, the pirates pointed a gun to his head and threatened to kill him, beat him and eventually opened fire at him after the commandos stormed the ship.

Seok was shot six times, sustaining bullet wounds to his arms, legs and abdomen.

He emerged as a hero after media outlets detailed his brave acts, causing the public's attention to shift from the saga of the Korean commandos who saved the lives of the crew members to the safety of the brave captain.

Meanwhile, Seok's condition had deteriorated from bad to life-threatening during his transfer from Sultan Qaboos Hospital in Salalah, Oman to Ajou University Hospital in late January 2011, when the bullets lodged in his body caused injuries to his organs.

Once a sailor, always a sailor

The Korean people crossed their fingers for the recovery of the brave captain after seeing the image of him with breathing tubes thrust down his throat, which suggested that the veteran sailor was fighting for life.

This keen interest in the captain's welfare, however, became a burden to the medical staff who treated him.

"As a surgeon, I was supposed to treat patients based on medical judgment. But I was under immense pressure because of the keen public interest in the health status of the heroic captain," Lee said.

The surgeon used some psychological remedies in order to cheer up his patient, who was in critical condition.

The intensive care unit where Seok was taken after surgery was decorated with the national and Navy flags. The Korean Navy song was also played inside the unit.

Asked if he believed such an approach helped Seok recover, Lee paused for a moment before saying the patient didn't remember what was going on in the intensive care unit at the time.

However, he said he himself benefitted from the warm environment; seeing the flags and listening to the Navy song made him feel comfortable because of his strong ties with the Navy.

Seok recovered from the gunshot wounds after several operations by Lee and fellow medical staff members.

He left the hospital in good condition approximately 280 days after he was transported there.

Lee's ties with the Navy remain even after a decade since he was discharged from the military in the early 1990s.

Even before operating on Seok, Lee had extensive experience in treating gunshot victims, including Koreans and U.S. soldiers who were taken to the hospital after being injured during military drills.

He declined to share how many military people he has treated at the hospital since 2003, saying that information is confidential.

Before working at the hospital's trauma center, he trained as a surgeon in surgical critical care at the University of California San Diego Medical Center in Hillcrest under the guidance of Professor Bruce Potenza. At that time, he said, there were no medical centers in Korea that had expertise in the surgical critical care.

In July, he was appointed by the Navy as a goodwill ambassador. Under this capacity, he is expected to promote the Navy and its role for two years.

An official familiar with the selection said the military chose Lee for the honorary position to recognize his role in the advancement of the health status of soldiers and military medical services. He added that the Navy believes Lee can play a greater role in other Navy-related activities.

Lee became a celebrity surgeon after his and his team's successful treatment of the heroic captain. The popular medical drama "Golden Time" (2014) was based on his story.

In several media interviews, he called for the government's financial support for the establishment of critical surgical care centers in the country. His voice was heard.

The debate over government funding for trauma and surgical critical care centers gained momentum, and in 2012, nearly 10 years after the issue was raised, the welfare ministry chose five hospitals with critical surgical centers that would receive government funding.

The next year, Ajou University Hospital was also chosen.