"Punished" Doctor and Medical Students Mock Families of Aviation Disaster Victims Under Police Investigation

Police to Actively Punish by Monitoring Insulting Posts

Police have launched an investigation after a post mocking a medical student who is a bereaved family member of the Jeju Air passenger plane disaster caused controversy in an online community for doctors and medical students.

Firefighters are searching for belongings at the site of the Jeju Air passenger plane collision and explosion accident that occurred at Muan International Airport, Jeonnam, 30 days ago. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

On the 4th, the National Investigation Headquarters of the National Police Agency announced that as of 5 p.m. on the 3rd, they have begun a pre-investigation (internal inquiry) into 86 malicious posts, including posts insulting the medical student bereaved family member, on the community. Among these, search warrants were executed to identify the authors of 5 posts, and 44 posts are awaiting court-issued warrants. The remaining 37 posts are under consultation with the prosecution and the community’s operating company regarding methods to secure investigation materials.

Earlier, on the 1st, a post titled "Respect for the spirit of studying for the national medical exam at the disaster site tent" was uploaded on the online community for doctors and medical students, "MediStaff." The post included a screenshot of an interview article with A, a 20-year-old medical student who lost his mother in the Jeju Air disaster. In the interview, A stated, "My mother (the victim) would not want me to study for an additional year because I couldn’t properly take this exam," and mentioned that he was preparing for the national medical exam (Kuksi) in a disaster relief tent.

Users of the community left malicious comments on the post such as, "The child is the sinner, but the punishment was received by the parent," and "Beans grow where beans are planted, and red beans grow where red beans are planted." After this became known, calls grew for punishing the author of the mocking post and the commenters.

A police official stated, "We will promptly identify and arrest the poster in consultation with the bereaved families and related ministries and strictly enforce judicial measures." Additionally, the police received a complaint from a representative group of bereaved families urging punishment for malicious posts targeting victims and their families, and are carefully reviewing all reports and tips received both at the on-site reporting center at Muan International Airport and online.

On the 30th of last month, the Cyber Crime Investigation Unit of the Jeonnam Provincial Police Agency announced that it would investigate internet posts insulting the victims on charges including spreading false information and defamation. They plan to actively punish such acts through monitoring online communities even without victim reports. On the 4th, Choi Sang-mok, Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance, also urged a strong response to online criminal acts that damage the honor of victims and bereaved families during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters held at the Government Seoul Office.