3,201,958 Registered as of December Last Year
The number of people who pledged not to receive excessive life-sustaining medical treatment (life-prolonging treatment) at the end of their lives surpassed 3.2 million last year.
According to the National Agency for Management of Life-Sustaining Treatment on January 19, the number of people who registered an "Advance Medical Directive" stating their refusal of life-sustaining treatment reached 3,201,958 as of December last year. Of those who registered, 1,079,173 were men and 2,122,785 were women.
By age group, those in their 70s accounted for the largest share at 1,246,047. This was followed by 563,863 people aged 65 to 69, and 563,655 people aged 80 or older. In total, there were 2,373,565 people aged 65 or older, representing 23.7% of the approximately 10 million people aged 65 or older in Korea.
The Advance Medical Directive is a document in which individuals can state their wishes regarding life-sustaining treatment and hospice care in advance, in preparation for the end of life. Any adult aged 19 or older can visit a designated registration agency nationwide, receive an explanation, and sign the document.
The so-called "Death with Dignity Act" (Life-Sustaining Treatment Decision Act) was enacted to allow individuals to choose to discontinue futile life-prolonging treatment, thereby enabling them to end life with dignity.
When the life-sustaining treatment decision system was first implemented in 2018, only about 86,000 people registered. Since then, participation has steadily increased: the number surpassed 1 million in August 2021, exceeded 2 million in October 2023, and reached 3 million for the first time in August last year. In the four months that followed, an additional 200,000 people registered, bringing the total to over 3.2 million in the eight years since the system was introduced.
As for the life-sustaining treatment plan, which is prepared by the attending physician at the request of terminally ill patients or those in the dying process, the number of registrants stood at 185,952 as of the end of last year.
The number of cases in which life-sustaining treatment was discontinued-based on an Advance Medical Directive, a life-sustaining treatment plan, unanimous agreement among the patient's family, or statements from two or more family members-was 478,378.
The National Agency for Management of Life-Sustaining Treatment stated, "The culture of 'ending life with dignity' is maturing, based on a national consensus," and added, "We will continue to work on improving accessibility and convenience for vulnerable groups, people with disabilities, and users of various languages."
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