Korean Police Investigate Recirculated Hospital Camera Videos

South Korean police are investigating the renewed circulation of surveillance footage from hospitals and clinics on overseas pornography websites, raising fresh concerns about patient privacy and the security of internet-connected cameras in medical facilities.

The National Police Agency assigned the case to the Chungbuk Provincial Police Agency after receiving an investigation request from Democratic Party lawmaker Heo Jong-sik on September 29. Heo’s office said it had identified 80 videos from Korean medical facilities being distributed online.

The recordings reportedly include patients receiving treatment or changing clothes at obstetrics and gynecology clinics, plastic surgery clinics, Korean medicine clinics and rehabilitation facilities. Twenty-one of the videos were believed to have been recorded at one obstetrics and gynecology clinic in Seoul.

The footage has reappeared even though four suspects accused of hacking cameras and selling recordings online were apprehended last year. Police had previously requested that access to a website carrying the material be blocked, but the videos later surfaced on other sites. Investigators are now seeking to determine how the recordings were redistributed and who was responsible.

Much of the leaked material is believed to have originated from internet protocol cameras. Unlike conventional closed-circuit systems, IP cameras can send video through wired or wireless internet connections, creating potential points of exposure when devices or networks are poorly secured. Heo called for a comprehensive investigation and international cooperation to identify those involved in the redistribution.

The case also highlights the distinction between unauthorized network-camera footage and South Korea’s legal requirements for cameras in operating rooms. Medical facilities conducting surgery on patients under general anesthesia or sedation must install operating-room cameras and make recordings when a patient or guardian asks, subject to legally specified exceptions.

That requirement took effect in September 2023 under a revision to the Medical Service Act passed in 2021. It was designed to deter illegal practices, including surgery performed by unqualified people, and to preserve evidence for investigations or medical disputes. Health Ministry rules require those installations to use closed-circuit cameras rather than internet-connected network cameras.

The police inquiry will focus on the route by which the footage returned to circulation and the people behind its renewed distribution. The case underscores the difficulty of containing intimate material once it has been copied and hosted across overseas platforms.