[The Editors' Verdict] Why Seoul National University Hospital Is Sensitive to Politicians

On the 2nd, Seoul National University Hospital, which received Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was stabbed with a weapon, was at a loss. After announcing a press briefing, it was hastily canceled, and even the next day when it announced that it had accepted him "at the request of Pusan National University Hospital," Pusan National University Hospital directly denied it, saying "that never happened," but Seoul National University Hospital pretended not to hear throughout.

A doctor who saw the announcement from Seoul National University Hospital that Lee was admitted to the intensive care unit after surgery due to concerns about infection and aftereffects clicked his tongue and told the author, “If a hospital cannot send a patient with a 1.4 cm wound to a general ward for fear of infection, then their infection control is poor, and if they are seriously worried about aftereffects, it means they don’t trust their medical skills,” adding, “They brought disgrace to the hospital by trying to protect Lee.” The author is not a doctor and therefore not qualified to evaluate the level of Seoul National University Hospital. However, the author definitely sensed the hospital’s cautious attitude toward a prominent political patient. A source familiar with Seoul National University Hospital said the reason was “because the hospital director is appointed by the president.”

Seoul National University Hospital is a public institution separate from Seoul National University College of Medicine. Originally, it was an affiliated hospital of Seoul National University College of Medicine, but in 1978, the government enacted the Seoul National University Hospital Establishment Act and separated it from Seoul National University as a special corporation. The hospital director is appointed by the president (Article 10, Paragraph 3 of this law). Since 1978, every president has appointed the candidate recommended by the board of directors. However, President Yoon Suk-yeol, in December 2022, for the first time in history, rejected both candidates for the director position. No reason was given. The startled hospital board selected new candidates and submitted them again, and President Yoon appointed one of the new candidates as the hospital director.

The term of the Seoul National University Hospital director, a vice-ministerial level senior position, is three years and can be renewed. President Yoon will decide whether to replace the next director or keep the current one. The director after that will be appointed by the next president. Therefore, there is talk that “Seoul National University Hospital had to align with President Yoon’s code while also taking out insurance for Lee, a leading candidate in the next presidential election.” This is the background behind Seoul National University Hospital’s handling of Lee’s transfer and protection.

During the Park Geun-hye administration, Seoul National University Hospital was involved in controversy for receiving surgical sutures from a doctor who was a regular physician for Choi Soon-sil. Although it was later cleared of charges, during the Moon Jae-in administration, Deputy Prime Minister Hong Nam-ki was suspected of favoritism after he spoke with the hospital director and his son was immediately admitted. The reason political controversies continue at the hospital is because hospital personnel appointments are influenced by the president and the government. When the first candidates for hospital director were rejected by President Yoon, the Ministry of Education appointed a former prosecutor investigator as the standing auditor of Seoul National University Hospital for the first time in history.

To prevent Seoul National University Hospital from being swayed by political winds, the hospital director should not be appointed by the president in the first place. There are many alternatives. The law could be amended to require the president to appoint the first-ranked candidate recommended by the board of directors (2019 amendment to the National University Hospital Establishment Act), or hospital professors could elect a single candidate through a mixed direct and indirect election system (like the Seoul National University president selection method), or the hospital board could directly elect the director candidate and appoint them (like the KAIST president selection method) by amending the Seoul National University Hospital Establishment Act.

The director of the University of Tokyo Hospital is appointed by the president of the University of Tokyo. The director of a U.S. state university affiliated hospital is appointed by the hospital board. Neither the Japanese prime minister nor the U.S. governor appoints them. It is time to discard the authoritarian-era relics that make a university hospital director be appointed every three years by the head of state and forced to be cautious.

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