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No video of surgery on rock singer: police

November 6, 2014
A portrait of the late singer-songwriter Shin-Hae chul is placed on the top of his memorial altar set up in Asan Medical Center in Songpa, southern Seoul. (Yonhap)

A portrait of the late singer-songwriter Shin-Hae chul is placed on the top of his memorial altar set up in Asan Medical Center in Songpa, southern Seoul. (Yonhap)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — Police said Friday that they have concluded there is no video footage of an operation performed on late rock singer Shin Hae-chul.

The 46-year-old rock singer was pronounced dead at a general hospital in southern Seoul a week ago after being transferred from the hospital identified only by its initial “S” where he received abdominal surgery on Oct. 17. He had been in a coma for five days after the surgery.

Police have been investigating a claim by Shin’s family that the S hospital recorded the operation but deleted the video file to avoid liability for its malpractice.

Announcing the result, investigators at the Seoul Songpa Police Station said that the hospital had not installed any equipment to store video files in the first place.

“There is a slim chance that the company managing the equipment colluded with the S hospital to hide the existence of the video file,” said a police officer.

According to Shin’s family, the S hospital had initially promised to hand over the surgery video file at the family’s request.

“It is possible that the family’s claim was the result of some kind of miscommunication,” the officer added.

Shin, an icon of the 90s pop musical scene, released more than 30 studio albums and experimented with various genres ranging from modern rock to jazz and techno since his debut in 1988.

The singer had been actively campaigning on a wide range of social issues, including the legalization of marijuana and the scrapping of the adultery law.