I don’t want to go on about this case too much, but I do wish to offer what help I can to get publicity for one of the most horrible stories I have heard in Korea.
Stephanie White, and English professor at one of the Universities in Korea, went to a busy sauna with her 14 year old son, Michael. Something happened (and nobody really knows what happened) and he died. What then follows is a tale of mistakes, incompetence, and what seems to be cover-ups.
The mother has been told that, in order for an investigation to be conducted, she needs a lawyer. The police have not interviewed any potential witnesses, because they want witnesses to come forward rather than have to bother with sending detectives out to detect. When Stephanie took her friend to give a statement, she was told that she could not, as the police have the day off! Yep… apparently all of them have the day off.
What she does know is that Michael was allowed to float in the shallow pool for over 15 minutes before anybody decided to act. When an ambulance was called, he was reported as being dead, even though he was still breathing. Stephanie was not informed that anything was wrong for a VERY long time, despite there being just 2 foreign women in the woman’s side of the Sauna. The other was her friend!
When the ambulance arrived, they were intending to just transport a body, and when they realised he was not DOA, they screwed up the CPR. Then, at the hospital, the doctors appear to have been unwilling to do very much to save him, just as the police are unwilling to hold anybody accountable, despite saying that they treat it as a murder first, and an accident second.
I really can not do this story justice. EVERYBODY should listen to the interview Stephanie conducted with the excellent Seoul Podcast. She comes across as being a very rational person who is not seeking revenge, but instead just wants answers! Please, just listen to the story.
[...] I applaud these measures, I feel that there is still not enough being done. There is a problem with the Police in this country, in that they simply seem unwilling to do their [...]