Police Launch Full Investigation into '36-Week Abortion Video'... Request Cooperation from YouTube

Identification of woman in video not yet confirmed, charges undecided
Ministry of Health to review legal grounds for murder charge upon complaint

The police have launched a full-scale investigation into an incident where a video claiming the abortion (pregnancy termination) of a 36-week-old fetus was posted online.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At a regular press briefing on the 22nd, a police official stated, “Last week, we obtained a search warrant from the court for the media platform (YouTube) where the video was uploaded to cooperate with data collection, and we sent it to the U.S. headquarters. We have not yet received a response from Google,” adding, “The woman involved has not been identified.”

The police view this case as different from a typical abortion. A police official explained, “At 36 weeks, it is a situation close to childbirth,” and added, “The exact circumstances and the condition of the fetus must be confirmed to determine the charges. When the Ministry of Health and Welfare filed a petition, the legal review considered murder charges.”

Regarding whether the video is fake, the police said, “The video uploader must be identified,” and “It seems it will take some time.”

On the controversy surrounding the investigation results of the Cha Sang-byeong case, a police official stated, “We do not agree with the opinion that the investigation was inappropriate based on fragmentary statements.”

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