Lee Jae-myung: "Doctors Rank First in Sex Crimes Among Professionals"...Reiterates Need for Operating Room CCTV

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung voiced strong calls once again for the mandatory installation of CCTV in operating rooms.

Governor Lee stated through SNS on the 17th, "What patients want is minimum protection by 'preventing intentional violations,'" and pointed out, "With doctors ranking first in sex crimes among professionals (2015-2019 police crime statistics) and with factory-style surgical division and proxy surgery occurring in reality, patients facing surgery cannot help but feel anxious."

The governor further stated, "Despite long-term efforts, amendments called the so-called 'Patient Protection Three Bills'—including the installation of operating room CCTV, the medical license regulation strengthening act, and the administrative disciplinary medical institution history disclosure act—have repeatedly failed to clear the hurdle of bill passage." He criticized again, "It is absurd that applying to doctors the same standard by which lawyers, patent attorneys, certified public accountants, national civil servants, and even apartment building representatives lose their qualifications upon receiving sentences of imprisonment or higher is considered 'excessive punishment' and 'infringement of occupational freedom.'"

The governor expressed hope, "I hope that the operating room CCTV bill to be discussed once more under the jurisdiction of the Health Committee on the 23rd will certainly pass, so that common sense and principles of democracy are upheld."

The following is the full text of Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung's SNS post.

<What Use is Politics That Cannot Protect Citizens' Human Rights>
Doctors have an obligation to prioritize patients' lives and health above all else and a responsibility to respect patients' human rights and right to know. In an era of transparent information disclosure, opposing the installation of operating room CCTV as if it were an infringement of doctors' inherent authority is merely a manifestation of exclusionary privileged consciousness.
What patients want is minimum protection by 'preventing intentional violations.' Patients in operating rooms are absolute information inferiors and have no bodily defense rights. With doctors ranking first in sex crimes among professionals (2015-2019 police crime statistics) and with factory-style surgical division and proxy surgery occurring in reality, patients facing surgery cannot help but feel anxious.
Operating rooms are not inviolable sanctums. If patients themselves desire it, they must be able to objectively know what is happening in the operating room. From the perspective of doctors who perform surgery normally, CCTV footage is valuable material that can prove legitimacy. This is why some hospitals voluntarily install CCTV in all operating rooms and attempt to restore shattered trust.
Despite long-term efforts, amendments called the so-called 'Patient Protection Three Bills'—including the installation of operating room CCTV, the medical license regulation strengthening act, and the administrative disciplinary medical institution history disclosure act—have repeatedly failed to clear the hurdle of bill passage.
In February, the People Power Party suddenly changed its position agreed upon in the standing committee and blocked the passage of the Medical Law amendment bill. Applying to doctors the same standard by which lawyers, patent attorneys, certified public accountants, national civil servants, and even apartment building representatives lose their qualifications upon receiving sentences of imprisonment or higher is considered 'excessive punishment' and 'infringement of occupational freedom.' It is absurd.
Eighty percent of the people desire the installation of operating room CCTV. Representing the interests of specific groups contrary to the will of the sovereign people cannot be the foundation of politics. I hope that the operating room CCTV bill to be discussed once more under the jurisdiction of the Health Committee on the 23rd will certainly pass, so that common sense and principles of democracy are upheld.