KBS reported yesterday (2nd) that there is a suspicion that the son of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance (Ministry of Finance) Hong Nam-ki at Seoul National University Hospital, which is experiencing a shortage of beds, was 'preferentially hospitalized'.



According to the report, on the morning of the 24th of last month, Hong (30), the son of Deputy Prime Minister Hong, visited the emergency room of Seoul National University Hospital in Yeongeon-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul with fever and pain in the right thigh.



At that time, after receiving the diagnosis that it was not an emergency as a result of the first treatment in the emergency room, Hong agreed to go to another hospital without being admitted to Seoul National University Hospital, and the patient registration was cancelled.



However, at around 1 pm on the same day, a decision was made to admit Hong to a special room in a single room at Seoul National University Hospital, and as a result, Hong was able to be admitted to Seoul National University Hospital for 3 days and 2 nights.



In the process, suspicions arose that Kim Yeon-soo, the director of Seoul National University Hospital, made the decision to be hospitalized.



However, Director Kim told KBS that he had never given such an instruction.



Deputy Prime Minister Hong explained, "I was worried about [my son's] symptoms, so I made a phone call to Kim Yeon-su, a close friend, but I understand that he was hospitalized in a special room that was left due to the high cost of using the ward."



His son, Hong, was discharged from the hospital after paying 1.42 million won for treatment, including room usage fees, on the 26th of the same month because his symptoms improved and the cost of hospitalization for a special room was burdensome.



Deputy Prime Minister Hong added, "The (normal patient) hospitalization ward is separate from the corona patient ward, and I understand that it has nothing to do with the hospitalization or bedside of COVID-19 patients."



A Seoul National University Hospital official said, "It is difficult to confirm whether the son of Deputy Prime Minister Hong was hospitalized because it is patient information."



(Photo = Yonhap News)