Teacher who made a 3-year-old drink 7 cups of water in about 10 minutes... Medical Association calls it "Attempted Murder"

Ulsan Nambu Police Station Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Choyoung] A medical association will submit a petition to the prosecution and the court requesting that the charge of 'attempted murder' be applied in a case where a teacher at a national public daycare center in Ulsan subjected a 3-year-old child to abuse akin to water torture.

The Korean Pediatric Society will submit a five-page petition to the prosecution on the morning of the 8th. The doctors' petition is essentially a medical opinion letter that certifies the patient's health condition or diagnosis, and it is expected to serve as objective evidence of how fatal such abuse can be to the child medically.

In the petition, the doctors explained, "If a 3-year-old child was forced to drink 7 cups of water for about 13 minutes almost every day, the blood sodium concentration would drop, and water would move into brain cells causing brain swelling, which could potentially lead to death." They added, "This information is also found in pediatric textbooks. Even adults can die from acute water intoxication under such circumstances." Based on this, they argued that the suspect in this case should be charged with attempted murder rather than child abuse.

Im Hyuntaek, president of the Korean Pediatric Society, stated, "Brain edema can cause brain damage, and the heart can also be affected," adding, "We will send this petition by mail tomorrow morning."

The abuse circumstances confirmed through the victim child's parents' application to view and copy the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage at the court include: forcibly feeding 7 cups of water over 13 minutes to induce vomiting; making the child drink water left by other children; forcibly feeding food left uneaten by other children; forcibly tilting the child's neck backward and forcefully putting a spoon into the mouth when the child refused food; and making the child hit another child's head dozens of times.

Earlier, the Ulsan Nambu Police Station began investigating the daycare center in November 2019 after receiving a suspected child abuse report from the parents. They confirmed 28 instances of abuse and sent the case to the prosecution. However, controversy arose because acts such as forcibly feeding water to induce vomiting, known as 'water torture,' were not included. When the victim's parents personally reviewed the daycare CCTV, they found 83 additional abuse acts were not included, sparking public outrage.

In response, the victim child's parents have demanded the dismissal of the responsible investigator and a public apology from the chief of the Ulsan Nambu Police Station through a petition on the Blue House's National Petition platform. As of the morning of the 8th, the petition, which started on the 21st of last month, has garnered 14,511 signatures.

Last December, the court's sentencing was postponed after the prosecution requested a resumption of arguments a day before the ruling, and the police began reinvestigation. After supplementary investigation, the police resent the case to the prosecution last month. An internal audit regarding the inadequate investigation is reportedly underway at the Ulsan Nambu Police Station.

Meanwhile, a police official said, "Additional abusive acts were confirmed during the reinvestigation," adding, "We did our best to investigate at the time, but there seem to have been shortcomings." The official further stated, "We investigated so that there would be no grievances from the victim's perspective and to ensure the case is judged fairly in court."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.