Screenshot from a video uploaded on YouTube by a woman in her 20s who claims to have had an abortion (YouTube)

Police on Tuesday requested an arrest warrant for the head of an obstetrics hospital and the doctor who performed an abortion on a 36-week fetus, facing murder charges.

The Seoul Metropolitan Agency said it has sought warrants to detain the head of the hospital where the abortion took place and the surgeon who operated on a woman in her 20s. The Seoul Central District Court are to review the police request on Wednesday.

The case became known in June when a woman posted a video on YouTube, purportedly documenting her experience of terminating her pregnancy at 36 weeks. The video, which was titled “9 Million Won for Surgery, 120 Hours of Hell,” sparked public outcry and prompted the Ministry of Health and Welfare to file a criminal complaint on murder charges to police.

The cost of the abortion as claimed in the title is equivalent to about $6,500.

Since the video's release, police have booked nine individuals for investigation, including the YouTuber, six medical staff and two brokers for allegedly connecting the YouTuber to the hospital.

The YouTuber, the hospital head and the obstetrician face murder charges, while four other medical staff members were booked on charges of abetting murder. The hospital head is also charged with violating medical law by failing to install security cameras in the hospital.

Laws governing abortion remain murky in South Korea. The decades-old ban on abortion was ruled unconstitutional in 2019, but the National Assembly failed to enact a new abortion law by the deadline in 2020.

Since then, some lawmakers have tried to pass new abortion laws, but no progress has been made. This has left abortion technically decriminalized, but without the legal framework to say that it is permitted.