KNU School of medicine

Forensic medicine is concerned with the legal application of medicine, especially pathological principles to the investigation of the medicolegal aspects of death. In recent years, there has been an explosion of books, movies, and TV dramas, such as “CSI” in the U.S. and “Sign” in Korea, devoted to forensic science and crime investigation. We have performed autopsies (postmortem examinations) on those who have died suddenly, unexpectedly, or as a result of trauma or poisoning in Daegu and nearer Kyungpook province since the 1930s, although the department was re-established in 1987. In 2002, the case of “frog children” was finally proved as homicide by our efforts. It was one of the most sensational, nationwide issues in Korean crime history.

Student education and pathology residency training are the most important part of our activities. We have devoted much of our time to teaching basic principles and practical application of forensic medicine and/or pathology to the medical and dental students, students of the college of law, and students of the graduate school of forensic and investigative science. We also participate in the training programs for policemen, especially crime scene investigators and 119 fire rescue members. We are making the hopeful future of the medicolegal death investigation system in the country.
The objective of our research project is to clarify the mechanism of sudden cardiac deaths in young adults. We are trying to find any earlier morphological changes in the heart in those cases. Molecular workup or gene study is the next goal. We sincerely hope to collaborate with other laboratories for our research.

In every death, there are lessons to be learned for the living. We strongly believe that teaching those lessons and translating them into the law are the heart of our work and our mission is to search the truth to protect the community and the living. We always try to tell it like it is.​