This undated photo shows a logo of the Korea National Police Agency in Seodaemun District, Seoul. Korea Times file

Police investigating the alleged abortion of a 36-week-old fetus have found it was not the head of an obstetrics hospital but an outside doctor that performed the abortion and booked him on murder charges, officials said Thursday.

The investigation began after a vlog video surfaced in June in which a YouTuber claimed she had an abortion in the 36th week of her pregnancy. Police have since booked the woman and the head of the hospital, who was believed to be the operating surgeon, on murder charges.

But police later found the hospital's head was not the one who performed the abortion.

"After analyzing seized evidence and statements from medical staff, we confirmed the doctor who actually led the operation and booked him on murder charges late last month," a Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency official said, adding that hospital officials had initially made false statements.

It was unclear why the doctor, an obstetrician specialist at a different hospital, was brought in to perform the abortion.

The doctor has since been questioned by police and admitted he performed the abortion. He has also been banned from leaving the country, officials said.

Police identified six medical staff who took part in the abortion, including the head of the hospital, three medical staff, and the operating surgeon and anesthesiologist, who were outsourced for the operation.

Police are looking into the time of the fetus's death and why its body was cremated immediately after the health ministry requested the police look into the case.

The abortion was carried out on June 25, but the cremation of the fetus's body was on July 13, a day after the complaint was filed, according to police. (Yonhap)