Students and alumni of the Seoul National University College of Medicine and 15 medical colleges and graduate schools nationwide made it clear that 'Baek's death was caused by extrinsic injuries, denouncing 'the cause of disease' announced by the SNUH's death certificate.

Prof. Lee Yoon-sung, chairman of the special investigation committee said in a press conference that "although the death certificate was not written in accordance with the form of the guidelines, the physician in charge of late Baek Nam-ki only followed his own medical judgement without any external influence or coercion". Prof. Lee continued that "the physician in charge saw the condition of Baek stabilized to some extent through consistent treatments but the patient suffered from acute renal failure due to complications to his death upon which his medical judgement was based".

However, Prof. Lee expressed his own personal opinion in the Q&A session with the press that "as the author of the guidelines for the certificates published by the Korea Medical Association, he believes that the cause of death for late Baek should have been written as extrinsic injuries".

As the disputes were snowballing, the SNUH announced on October 2 that the death certificate will be re-discussed in a special committee which will be formed by excluding the participation of SNUH president and vice-president in charge of doctors for the reason of accused external influence on the death certificate. However, the announcement of the committee further escalated the disputes.

Meanwhile, some 30,000 citizens participated in a commemoration rally organized by the 'Baek Nam-ki Struggle Headquarters' in downtown Seoul on October 1 and demanded the truth of clear cause of Baek's death and the punishment for those who are responsible for the death of late Baek Nam-ki.

reported by Bae Hye-jung
edited in English by Kim Sung-jin

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