Gangnam plastic surgeon indicted in Chinese patient's death — already on trial for similar case

The head of a Gangnam plastic surgery clinic has been indicted on charges of medical negligence in the death of a Chinese patient in her 20s who underwent full-body liposuction — and it was not the first time he caused a patient's death, prosecutors said.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Division 2, led by chief prosecutor Lee Ju-hee, announced Monday that it had indicted the clinic's director, identified only as A, without detention on charges of professional negligence resulting in death. The indictment was filed June 11.

A is accused of performing full-body liposuction on a Chinese woman in her 20s, identified as B, in November 2023, then failing to take appropriate medical measures when she developed post-operative complications, including infection, leading to her death.

Prosecutors assigned a specialist medical crimes investigator to the case given its severity, directly summoning A for questioning and reviewing more than 2,500 pages of medical records in full. Based on that analysis, they determined that a clear causal link existed between A's breach of his duty of care and B's death, and proceeded with the indictment.

The investigation also revealed that A's pattern of performing risky surgeries for profit and providing lax post-operative care was not new. In 2018, A had allowed another Chinese patient to die after failing to properly monitor the patient while still under anesthesia following liposuction. He was indicted without detention for that case in May 2023 and was already standing trial when the second death occurred.