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Recently, a bill to legalize assisted death with dignity was introduced to the National Assembly.
A bill that would allow terminally ill patients suffering from excruciating pain to end their own lives with the help of a doctor is growing controversial.
Reporter Jin Song-min reports.
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Kim Kyung-tae, 43, suffers from a rare and incurable disease called CRPS, or complex regional pain syndrome.
[Kim Kyung-tae (43)/CRPS (Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) patient: (left arm) pain continues to rise as if on fire.
It's like burning a gas stove or something like that.
Then the film cuts off, and I faint.]
He has been fighting the disease for 9 years with over 20 pills a day, such as opioids, and joined a Swiss non-profit organization that helps euthanasia three years ago.
[Kim Kyung-tae (43) / Member of 'Swiss Euthanasia Group': Continuing to feel extreme pain and telling them to live the rest of their lives is like hell.
If I choose my own death with the help of a doctor, I think that it is one of the right to self-determination and the right to pursue happiness.]
Mr. Kim, who had planned a trip to Switzerland earlier this year.
He put the execution on hold because of the people around him who insisted on waiting for the development of a cure.
In Switzerland, physician-assisted suicide has been legal since the 1940s.
[Sylvan Rulay / Swiss Euthanasia Organization: 'Dignitas' Co-Director: There are about 100 Korean members.
Not all of them apply for doctor-assisted suicide.
(Since the organization was founded) 3 Koreans have committed suicide with the aid of doctors through us in 24 years.]
Last June, a bill was proposed in the National Assembly to name and allow physician-assisted suicide as 'death with assisted dignity'.
[Ahn Gyu-baek / Democratic Party Rep.: This patient, who is feeling extreme pain, gives the decision right to those who decide that they will end their life on their own.]
Religious circles, etc. However, public opinion in favor of "Let's respect the patient's right to self-determination" is also strong.
In fact, in a poll earlier last month, over 80% were in favor of legalization.
However, in another survey earlier this month, which asked a different question about “what policy should be prioritized for a dignified death,” it was found that only 10% of the respondents chose 'legalizing physician-assisted suicide'.
It is read in the same context as medical and welfare experts pointed out that “the urgent need is to expand the nursing system or hospice”.
[Hur Dae-seok / Professor Emeritus of Seoul National University College of Medicine: (Currently, in Korea), less than 10% of 300,000 people who die a year are receiving the benefits of the (hospice) service.]
[Kim Myung-hee/Director of National Bioethics Policy Center: I think that the direction our society should pursue is to provide an environment in which the right to self-determination (about death) can be realized, then such a system, and these things (first).]
(Video coverage: Hyunsang Kim)