Hello, I am Seong-woo from the Department of Forensic Medicine at Seoul National University College of Medicine. I am a forensic scientist, a professor who evaluates students at school, and also a researcher. This YouTube channel is, how should I put it, a bit of a deviation and a new challenge for me. Through YouTube, I hope to create a space where I can share various knowledge related to me, along with the content I teach to students, and share my experiences. 

I plan to discuss two main directions with you. The first is to introduce topics related to forensic examinations and cases, which is my area of expertise. The second is to reflect on our modern lives through the lens of death, providing knowledge, insights, and contemplation about death.

I'm planning to prepare some things, so let's try this together. Since this is my first time doing YouTube, I might be a bit inexperienced, but if you watch closely, I will show you my gradual improvement. First of all, I have prepared the first topic for today. Since this is the first content, I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself, what I do, and share a part of my work with you. 

If you look at the photo, there are three people besides me. The three people above are my colleagues. I actually graduated from medical school and am a doctor. Typically, after graduating from medical school, one becomes a clinical doctor who sees patients. This involves going through internships and residency, and then either staying at a large hospital or opening a practice to take care of the health of local residents. Naturally, when I entered medical school, I also had similar expectations.

I wanted to become a doctor. In fact, there are no doctors in my family. When you ask why I went to medical school, my parents both came from a very humble background, living in a rural area. When they were doing well there, they must have noticed who the wealthiest person in the neighborhood was, right? It seems that the children of doctors were often the rich kids. My parents probably thought, When we have children, we should send them to medical school. So, when we were around 2 or 1 years old, it seems like the dreams of the parents back then were to have one child become a doctor and another a judge. Therefore, from a young age, I naturally had the thought that I should go to medical school. So, during high school, I studied hard, and also...

Now that my parents are talking about doctors, I find myself watching programs featuring many doctors. In the past, there weren't many YouTube channels or TV shows with doctors, so I used to watch a lot of dramas. I wonder if any of you know Lee Jung-gil, a famous actor. He used to appear in a program as a psychiatrist, which I found really entertaining. So, when I thought about entering medical school, I dreamed of becoming a psychiatrist.

You might remember a show called The Tree That Bears Love, which featured Choi Soo-jong as the main character. I can't be sure if you remember Lee Mi-hyeon, but they were both in that program. I was probably a high school student at the time, and I really enjoyed watching it, thinking, I also want to go to college.

I went there and saw people climbing the mountain and reading poetry in English, and they were having really beautiful romances. I thought, I want to be like that. So, for various complex reasons, I did well in math, but I didn't really enjoy it. I was confident I could do well on exams, but I wondered if I really needed to do that again in college. Anyway, I ended up going to medical school. Medical school wasn't as romantic as I had expected, and I didn't have as many relationships, but it was really fun. However, there were no doctors around me. Perhaps some of you here might know a doctor, but without knowing any doctors, it's hard to understand the career path. So, as I mentioned earlier, I entered psychiatry, and it just so happened that my friend's father was a professor at the medical school.

I went to see a psychiatrist, and I persuaded my friend to introduce me to him later. He was going to meet his father. He asked if I could visit his house, saying, Would it be okay if I come over? This was because he had dreamed of becoming a psychiatrist, which was really cool. I thought it was amazing when I saw the doctor conducting psychodrama in a drama; he was treating patients, and they were getting better, which inspired me. So, I went to visit his father, who was a very famous psychiatrist and also a senior from my university.

When I arrived, it turned out that it was a day when he had a lot of patients. He came home with a bruise around his eye. I asked him about it, and he said, Oh, hello! I'm a junior from your school, and I'm a friend of your son. The atmosphere was quite friendly, but it seemed like he had been through something difficult.

I asked if they were hurt, and they said they were hit by a patient. So, that day, it wasn't something that happened every time with the psychiatrists. But as you all know, some psychiatrists have passed away due to patients. So, that day, there happened to be an incident, and as I listened to the stories, I realized that this field is quite close to neuroscience; it wasn't just about therapy through counseling. As a result, I ended up studying in medical school. During my time at medical school, I found it really enjoyable, thinking that once I graduated, I would be free from exams. There are friends who live like free individuals after graduation. But at that time, I was a student who wanted to study well. So, I was a very diligent student, and after graduation, I decided I wanted to go into orthopedics or internal medicine, leaning more towards orthopedics.

I graduated from Seoul National University, and at the School of Medicine, the subject we learn right before graduation is law. However, the credits for this subject are very small. For example, in our university, a course like surgery carries 12 credits, so if you mess up those 12 credits because you couldn't take the exam, as anyone who has attended college knows, that's a significant loss of 3 or 4 credits. The credits for other subjects, like surgery, are usually around 6. So, we studied really hard for those. But I think the law subject had fewer credits. The reason I mention this is that medical students take the national medical examination almost right before graduation. Of course, many pass it; in fact, most do, but there are friends who do fail.

This is really painful, isn't it? Why does luck play a role in exams? So, while worrying about that, other medical schools provide a break and time to prepare for exams, but Seoul National University didn't give us that time due to its past arrogance. They continued classes until the end. So, while I felt rushed, I had to take a forensic medicine class, which was just one credit. Many students were just passively attending. However, I found it incredibly interesting. Perhaps it's fate. It was enjoyable because, in medical school, most classes teach how to treat patients, how to prevent diseases, and how to build relationships with patients, but this class was about studying deceased individuals. Moreover, it touches on human rights that cannot be ignored in medical education.

The truth is that during my time in medical school, we were so busy studying that we couldn't really engage in discussions about human rights in the field. Looking back, it was quite an interesting experience. Now, as you can see in the photo, the person sitting above is Professor Moon Guk-jin. To the left is Professor Lee Jeong-bin, who is striking a challenging pose with his chin up, and on the right is Professor Lee Yun-seong, who is looking at me. These three professors were part of the faculty who taught me. As you can see, Professor Lee Jeong-bin, on the left, is a manly man. Even now, he is more physically fit than I am. He embodies the style of a surgeon, distinguishing between internal and external medicine. Then, on the right, there is Professor Lee Yun-seong.

You can clearly see that this person has a very kind appearance. Both of them had fathers who were doctors, and now one of them is studying law. It was really interesting to see how they approached the topic. One person was a bit of a tough guy, while the other was more gentlemanly. They taught us how to approach the deceased and what kind of justice and human rights we should uphold, which was fascinating. However, during the class, Professor Lee Yoon-sung made a remark saying, This is such an important field of study, yet for the past ten years, I haven't had a single student. He seemed quite distressed about it. At that time, I realized that it had been over 25 years since I graduated, and many of my friends graduated around the same time. When I asked my friends, none of them remembered.

You remember that Teacher Lee Yoon mentioned that I couldn't do it, right? I vividly remember it. So, I guess that was my destiny. This is such an important matter, and while discussing it, a sudden thought came to me: Then I have to do it. Of course, my parents wished for a good life, and I naturally expected to become a doctor who treats patients. I had been running towards that for six years, but this one class changed everything. So, I went to see the professor and asked, How much do you earn per month? You can't just ask that. Nowadays, some friends do ask, but in our time, we were not the kind to ask such things. So, I asked the professor, What do you think about the future, Professor?

Now is the worst time. Yes, now I can only soar; nothing worse will happen. So I think it’s better to do it. This is what I’m saying. I came back after only looking at women, and I pondered a lot during my internship. But actually, I also greeted Jung Ga. I greeted him, but one day, I was caught by Teacher Lee Yoon-seong, who said, You will come for your internship, right? You have to come. So I believed in the sense of awe, fun, and what felt like fate at that time, and I decided to pursue forensic science. It was really fun. In fact, I started forensic science and performed my first autopsy in 1999, and over the past 25 years, it has been enjoyable. I learned a lot, and they say people don’t change much, but I think I have changed a lot. Because I...

The truth is, when you watch movies, the main characters often look cool, and you see the tough guys or those who are good at fighting. Then there are extras in the background, with shaved heads and glasses, studying hard. Every time I watch those movies, I feel an emotional connection to those characters. Why? Because in high school, I was the kind of student who didn’t care much about others and just focused on studying quietly. I didn’t pay much attention to what others were doing; in a way, I was just trying to get by like most of us do. We are busy navigating our lives. However, reflecting on people and thinking about who I am makes me realize that even if I had become a clinical doctor, I might have had similar thoughts. As we grow older, we mature, and looking back on our careers...

By making choices, I really think a lot and have seen and felt many things. So, I thought it might be nice to share these feelings with all of you. I can't share everything, of course, but among the events I've experienced, sometimes I talk about interesting stories, sometimes I share heart-wrenching tales, and there are times when I witness what death means in Korean society. I think it would be valuable to take some time to reflect on these matters together. I believe my experiences are not lacking significantly. First of all, many of you often ask me, what exactly do I do?

서울대 의과대 유성호 교수! 왜? 누구도 관심 없던 법의학자가 되었을까? - 법의학을 선택한 결정적인 이유

매일 시체를 만나는 남자. 법의학자 유성호 교수
인간의 죽음을 통해 세상 얘기를 해 볼까요? 
건강, 돈, 사랑, 우리 살아가는 모든 이야기를 유성호 교수님이 
죽음이라는 관점으로 풀어봅니다.


서울대 의과대 유성호 교수! 왜? 누구도 관심 없던 법의학자가 되었을까? - 법의학을 선택한 결정적인 이유

서울대 의과대 유성호 교수! 왜? 누구도 관심 없던 법의학자가 되었을까? - 법의학을 선택한 결정적인 이유

Scripts