By Kim Se-jeong
The family of the late singer Shin Hae-chul has claimed that Seoul Sky Hospital video-recorded an operation performed on Shin, but deleted the file to avoid responsibility for his death.
Clarifying the latest allegation is expected to be the focus of the police’s planned questioning of the hospital’s lead surgeon and President Kang Se-hoon, who conducted the surgery on Shin.
While initial autopsy results linked Shin’s death to a surgical error, Kang and the hospital have flatly denied responsibility.
Through his lawyer, Kang blamed Asan Medical Center, where Shin was briefly treated after arriving in a coma days after the surgery, for his death. He even alleged that Shin died because he ate something after the surgery, even though he was not supposed to.
Kang may face criminal charges depending on the results of the ongoing investigation.
According to Shin’s family, Sky Hospital promised last week to hand over the surgery video file at the family’s request. However, when police officers raided the hospital on Monday, hospital personnel told the officers that such a video did not exist.
“The hospital is lying,” a lawyer representing Shin’s family told reporters Thursday. “It may have deleted the video file to conceal the truth.”
Police said they are now trying to clarify the family’s allegations.
“So far, we have not found any evidence that the hospital shot any video of Shin’s surgery or deleted the file,” said an officer from the Songpa Police Station. “We will ask questions about this during the interrogation of Kang.”
On Wednesday, the police questioned two nurses from the hospital, as well as two members of the medical staff at Asan Medical Center. On Thursday, two additional nurses from Sky, who were present during the initial operation and afterward, were called in for questioning.
Shin was operated on for intestinal adhesions and obstruction on Oct. 17. He was released, but returned to the hospital in excruciating pain. He was transferred to the Asan hospital on Oct. 22 in a coma, and was pronounced dead on Oct. 27. The direct cause was cerebral hypoxia, a condition where oxygen fails to reach the brain. An autopsy found a perforation in his intestines and also pericardium, and the chief forensic scientist indicated negligence on the part of Kang was to blame.
Some view Sky Hospital’s defense as a display of desperation. If found responsible for Shin’s death, Kang will face criminal charges, and his reputation will be ruined.
Through the lawyer, Kang claimed no error was made during the operation on Oct. 17. Instead, he held the Asan hospital accountable. The forensic scientist dismissed Kang’s claim, confirming that the perforation in his pericardium must have been made at Sky Hospital.
Kang also accused Shin of eating food. “Shin was not supposed to eat anything. But it appears, he might have eaten something,” said the lawyer. Speaking with journalists Wednesday, however, the family dismissed that claim. “He was in too much in pain to eat. And the hospital initially told us that he could eat soft food.”
Local journalists reported that Sky Hospital opened on Thursday with Kang in his office.
A rock band Next announced Thursday it will perform a commemorative concert for Shin on Dec. 27.