What is the Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision System?

In 1997, at Boramae Hospital, a patient who had undergone brain hemorrhage surgery died after the hospital, at the request of his wife, who cited financial difficulties, agreed to discharge him by removing his ventilator. The patient passed away on the way home.
As a result of this incident, the patient’s guardian was convicted of murder, and the physician was found guilty of aiding and abetting murder.
Following this incident, the mindset took hold in hospitals that physicians must never discharge a patient before death and must provide all possible treatments until the very end.

In addition, in 2008, an elderly woman surnamed Kim, who was undergoing a lung cancer biopsy, suddenly lost consciousness due to unexpected bleeding and had to be placed on a ventilator and treated in the intensive care unit.
Respecting the wishes of Ms. Kim, who had previously expressed her refusal of life-sustaining treatment, her family requested that the medical staff and hospital remove the ventilator and discontinue treatment. However, when the request was denied, the family filed a lawsuit, leading to a legal case.
The Supreme Court ruled that if a terminally ill patient is recognized as exercising the right of self-determination based on human dignity, value, and the right to pursue happiness, the discontinuation of life-sustaining treatment may be permitted.

From the 1997 Boramae Hospital case to the 2008 case of Ms. Kim, a broad social consensus eventually led to the enactment of the Act on Hospice and Palliative Care and Decisions on Life-Sustaining Treatment for Patients at the End of Life in February 2016.
Implemented in February 2018, the Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision Act aims to establish clear standards and procedures that allow patients to forgo life-sustaining treatment, thereby enabling them to conclude their lives with dignity.