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The court decided that the director of a taekwondo academy in his 30s, who died while trying to save three academy students swept away by the river, should be designated as a 'doctor'.
The 1st administrative division of the Seoul Administrative Court (Judge Kang Dong-hyeok) announced today (19th) that the plaintiff won the lawsuit against the Minister of Health and Welfare for the 'cancellation of accreditation as a doctor and cancellation of the disposition of compensation' filed by the deceased's family against the Minister of Health and Welfare. I did.
In May 2016, while he was playing in the water after leaving for a retreat with academy students in Hongcheon, Gangwon-do, Mr. A saw three academy students being swept away by the rapids and jumped into the river.
At that time, two academy students were rescued, but one was not rescued and died along with A.
In December 2016, the Ministry of Health and Welfare recognized Mr. A as a doctor and decided to pay 200 million won in compensation to his bereaved family.
A medical accident victim is recognized when he or she dies or is injured while carrying out rescue activities to save the life or body of another person who is endangered by an act outside of his/her duties. Medical benefits, education protection, employment protection, etc. are given along with the payment, and the body of a doctor can be buried and buried in a national cemetery.
However, the situation changed when the parents of the deceased academy student filed an administrative lawsuit against the Ministry of Health and Welfare, saying, "Cancel the recognition of Mr. A as a doctor."
In the civil and criminal trials, a ruling was made that Mr. A was responsible for the death of a hagwon student on the grounds that Mr. A did not wear safety equipment to the students and neglected his duty of protection. It was a decision to cancel the accreditation.
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Then, the bereaved family of Mr. A started a lawsuit again.
The issue was 'Article 3, Paragraph 2 of the Doctors' Accidents Act'.
This provision stipulates that a person who dies while rescuing a person in danger due to his/her actions is not recognized as a doctor, because the Ministry of Health and Welfare introduced this provision as the reason for canceling Mr. A's designation as a doctor.
However, the court held that Mr. A was not subject to this provision.
The court explained, "It is difficult to conclude that Mr. A's intention or gross negligence was the direct cause of the danger to the hagwon students."
He continued, "Even if Mr. A made a mistake, such as not wearing safety equipment, the act of jumping into the water to save the academy students after losing his own life can be evaluated as a self-sacrificing act, and there is no shortage of examples for society. “, he added.