Medical Licenses Remain Despite Sexual Crimes... "Only 5 Suspensions Among 717 Cases"

717 Doctors Arrested for Sexual Crime Allegations in Last 5 Years
Only 5 License Suspensions... Lasting About 1 Month
"Medical Law Amendment Pending in National Assembly Must Be Expedited"

A total of 717 doctors have been arrested on charges of sexual crimes over the past five years, but cases leading to punishment are extremely rare. The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Pixabay]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Although the number of doctors arrested for sex-related crimes has been increasing recently, there appear to be limitations in punishing them. Accordingly, some argue that the revised bill concerning the revocation of medical licenses should be processed swiftly.

According to data submitted by the National Police Agency to Nam In-soon, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, a total of 717 doctors were arrested on charges of sex crimes over the past five years.

Among them, doctors arrested for "rape and sexual assault" accounted for the largest portion at 87% (624 people). This was followed by "filming using cameras, etc." with 75 people (10.5%), "obscene acts using communication media" with 14 people (2.0%), and "trespassing in public places for sexual purposes" with 4 people (0.6%).

However, cases leading to punishment were extremely rare. According to data submitted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to Representative Nam, during the same period, a total of 64 doctors had their licenses suspended for "immoral medical practices." Among these, only 5 cases explicitly cited sex crimes as the reason for disciplinary action, and the suspension period was limited to about one month.

In response, Representative Nam pointed out the limitations of the current Medical Service Act. He noted that under the Medical Service Act, it is not possible to revoke the licenses of medical professionals who commit sex crimes, and the level of suspension penalties is minimal.

Currently, according to the Medical Service Act, the Minister of Health and Welfare can suspend a medical professional’s license for up to one year if they commit acts that severely damage their dignity.

Additionally, since 2018, the types of immoral medical practices have been subdivided, and if a medical professional commits a sex crime in violation of Article 2, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 3 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Crimes during medical treatment, they can be subject to a 12-month license suspension.

However, this only applies to crimes such as "rape, sexual assault, quasi-rape, sexual coercion through work-related power, and sexual assault of minors." Other types of sex crimes, such as illegal filming using cameras, are not covered. Furthermore, the condition that the crime must occur "during medical treatment" means that license suspensions are practically very rare, according to Representative Nam.

Representative Nam argued, "For medical professionals, just like other specialized professions such as lawyers, certified public accountants, and judicial scriveners, the qualification requirements should be strengthened so that licenses are revoked if they are sentenced to imprisonment or higher regardless of the type of crime." He emphasized that the Medical Service Act currently pending in the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee should be processed promptly.

Previously, in February last year, the Legislation and Judiciary Committee attempted to pass a revision to the Medical Service Act that would allow the revocation of licenses for doctors and other medical professionals sentenced to imprisonment or higher, but the opposition party at the time expressed opposition. Currently, the bill remains stalled and has not passed the National Assembly.

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