Police said on Monday they had asked streaming platform company YouTube for information to help identify the user who posted a controversial video recounting her experience of terminating a nine-month pregnancy.
The government has asked police to consider charging the woman with murder.
“We issued a search and seizure warrant on the video platform’s server last week to identify the person who uploaded the video,” the National Police Agency said at a press conference, adding that they were currently waiting for a response from YouTube.
In a video posted on June 27, a woman claims to have undergone an abortion at 36 weeks after discovering she was pregnant after visiting a clinic due to weight gain. According to the video’s title, the abortion cost 9 million won ($6,481).
“After the Constitutional Court ruled that criminalising abortion is unconstitutional, the Health Ministry has asked police for help in investigating whether the actions of the woman or her doctor amount to murder,” a police official said.
The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare requested the police to investigate on July 12.
In 2019, the Supreme Court ruled that legal provisions that punish women for obtaining abortions excessively restrict women’s right to self-determination and violate constitutional values.
The National Police Agency says it will check the condition of the fetus at the time of the abortion before deciding which law to apply.
According to a report by the JoongAng Ilbo on Monday, legal experts believe it is unlikely the woman will be charged with murder, given legal precedent that a fetus is not a human being and that the criminal code defines the target of murder as a “person,” or human being.
“The poster stated that the abortion procedure was performed on a 36-week-old foetus, which is different from a regular abortion earlier in the pregnancy,” the police official added.
Most abortions are performed in women between 1 and 28 weeks of pregnancy.
Police are currently verifying the facts of the incident and will take strict legal action.
The YouTuber has removed all of his videos, including the abortion video.
Lee Soo-jung, Lee Ji-yeon [lee.soojung1@joongang.co.kr]