An analysis of forensic autopsies performed in the Gwangju and Jeollanam-do areas of the Republic of Korea during the past decade

Autopsy is regarded as the gold standard in death investigation. Moreover, the statistical data from autopsies provides basic statistics for various aspects of society. However, the autopsy rate is low in the Republic of Korea. For a stable forensic autopsy, the Police Agency, the National Forensic Service, and the Department of Forensic Medicine, Chonnam National University concluded an agreement regarding forensic autopsies in the Honam area (Gwangju and Jeollanam-do areas) in 2007. This study aimed to review forensic autopsies performed over the past 10 years according to the trilateral agreement in the Gwangju and Jeollanam-do areas. A total of 3,899 cases were categorized based on the specific region; the manner and cause of death were investigated, and autopsy rates were calculated. The analysis of the manner of death revealed that 2,125 cases (54.5%) were unnatural deaths, 1,347 cases (34.5%) were natural deaths, and 427 cases (11.0%) were from an unknown cause of death. The number of autopsies was relatively stable until 2013 but increased from 2014. Since then, there was a fluctuation in the annual autopsy rates in each region. A negative correlation was noted between the distances from the region requesting autopsies to the institution performing autopsies and the autopsy rates. The authors believe that this study could be used as foundational data to guide the development of a postmortem investigation system and a reference for improving social security and public health.