80 CCTV Videos Capturing Hospital Dressing Scenes Spread on Overseas Sites

Police have launched an investigation into allegations that CCTV footage filmed inside hospitals in South Korea has been leaked to illegal overseas websites. According to Yonhap News Agency's reporting on Monday, the National Police Agency received a request from the office of Rep. Hur Jong-sik of the Democratic Party of Korea on May 29 to investigate the suspected hacking and leak of CCTV footage from medical institutions, and assigned the case to the North Chungcheong Provincial Police Agency.

According to Hur's office, 80 videos capturing medical examinations and patients changing clothes at Korean medical institutions — including obstetrics and gynecology clinics, plastic surgery clinics, traditional Korean medicine clinics and rehabilitation medicine departments — were found circulating on overseas adult content sites, with 21 videos related to a single obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Seoul alone.

Four suspects who originally hacked the footage and distributed or sold it on illegal websites were arrested by police last year. Police took steps to protect victims, including requesting access blocks to the overseas sites where the videos were posted. However, the videos were found to have been re-uploaded to other sites even after the arrests.

Most of the leaked footage from medical institutions is believed to have been recorded by Internet protocol (IP) cameras, which can connect to wired or wireless networks and transmit footage in real time to other devices.

"How can people visit hospitals with peace of mind when even footage of them being examined and changing clothes is spreading online?" Hur said, urging a thorough investigation through international cooperation. Police plan to investigate how the videos were re-distributed and identify additional distributors.