By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

The court will make a landmark ruling on ending life by assisted suicide or painless death better known as euthanasia this year.

The ruling is in response to a legal petition by the family of a patient in a coma to win an approval to remove the patient's life support equipment. This is the first litigation of this kind in Korea.

A group of judges in charge of the case made a rare visit to the Severance Hospital in northern Seoul on Oct. 1 to check the patient's condition and to interview the physician in charge.

Ahead of the ruling, The Korea Times exclusively visited the patient Kim Ok-kyung and interviewed Kim's daughter at the hospital last week. It was their first exposure to the media.

The 76-year-old Kim lapsed into coma in February due to excessive bleeding caused by a botched endoscopy operation.

Doctors taking care of her refused to confirm the exact condition of the grandmother citing internal regulations but the lawyer Shin Hyun-ho, who has led the litigation on behalf of Kim's family, said Kim is almost the same as other brain dead people except for some brain activity detected once a day, which is the sole factor keeping her from being recognized as a brain-dead individual. ``Doctors say the pupils of her eyes do not react to light at all,'' the lawyer said in a phone interview with The Korea Times.

Pale-faced Kim was lying on a hospital bed in the hospital's intensive care unit with a feeding tube and other life-supporting equipment in her nose and mouth.

Surprisingly, the grandmother sometimes moved her eyes and toes and even squirmed and wriggled.

``We thought they are signs of recovery but doctors said they are merely nerve reactions and have nothing to do with recovery,'' Kim's daughter, who refused to be named, said. ``Her vital signs have been stable over the past eight months so that it was unnecessary for her to undergo medical treatment to improve her health condition.''

On reasons for the petition, she said, ``My mother has always refused to be a nuisance to her children and other family members. For instance, whenever her children pay the bill for her medical treatment, she always repaid the money,'' the daughter said. ``My father died after being hospitalized without regaining consciousness for a long time. Since then, my mom has stressed if she falls into coma without reasonable chance of a recovery, she would choose the assisted suicide.''

But opponents hit out at Lee's family including the daughter, alleging it's wise to always err on the side of life.

``We know life is more important than anything else. But we think a patient with no hope of survival also has the right to refuse meaningless treatment aimed to prolong the life functions of the patient'' Lee's daughter said. ``The ruling for the `good-death' will help reduce the pain of numerous patients with no hope of recovery and their families suffering from huge medical fees.'' Her family has paid more than 14 million won ($9,700) so far, according to the hospital's administration.

Rep. Jeon Hyun-heui of the opposition Democratic Party raised the need for legalizing assisted suicide. ``We need to respect the patient's right to determine their own life and the right to pursue happiness even if the conclusion is taking their own life,'' Jeon said.

Catholic teaching condemns euthanasia as a ``crime against life.'' Currently, some forms of the practice of ending a life in a painless mannger are legal in several countries.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr