Severance Hospital Psychiatry Professor Attacked With a Weapon; Woman in Her 50s Sent to Prosecution in Custody

[Financial News] A woman in her 50s who allegedly wielded a weapon against a professor of psychiatry at Sinchon Severance Hospital in Seoul has been transferred to the prosecution office while in custody.
Seoul’s Seodaemun Police Station said on the 13th that it had transferred a woman in her 50s, identified as A, to the Seoul Western District Prosecution Office in custody on charges of attempted murder, violating the Medical Service Act and obstructing business.
A is accused of injuring Professor Kang on the face and hands, among other places, by swinging a kitchen knife she had brought in advance at around 4:35 p.m. on the 4th in an outpatient clinic of the Department of Psychiatry on the fifth floor of Severance Hospital’s main building. Professor Kang sustained injuries, including an approximately 5-centimeter cut to the hand, but was found to be in no life-threatening condition.
The police initially arrested A on suspicion of special injury, but, based on the fact that she had put a kitchen knife she used at home in a shopping bag and brought it to the hospital, among other factors, determined that she had intended to kill and charged her with attempted murder.
The police also added charges of violating the Medical Service Act and obstructing business, concluding that she had assaulted and injured a healthcare professional while the professional was providing treatment and interfered with normal medical services. The Medical Service Act, known as the “Lim Se-won Act,” stipulates that anyone who assaults and injures a healthcare professional while they are providing treatment is subject to up to seven years in prison or a fine of at least 10 million won and no more than 70 million won.
A reportedly told police during questioning, “I tried to go to another hospital, but a doctor at Severance Hospital conspired with another hospital to prevent me from receiving treatment, which made me angry.”
The Seoul Western District Court issued an arrest warrant for A on the 7th, citing “a risk of flight.”
[email protected] Choi Seung-han Reporter