By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The Catholic community plans to establish a charity hospital in Gangnam, southern Seoul, according to Lee Dong-ik, the newly appointed chief of Catholic Medical Centers, Monday.
Located next to the Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, one of the largest in the country, the new center for those on low incomes will share the true spirit of Christianity, he said. Specific plans have yet to be fixed.
"The facility will share infrastructure and data with St. Mary's, which will let even the penniless use all the state-of-the-art facilities," he said.
Lee, who took office Sept. 1, said he opposes"death with dignity," which allows people to die instead of trying to revive them in the event of an emergency and permits the terminally ill to determine the time of their own death.
"I oppose any form of measures that results in death ― no matter what you call them. I believe people can choose to die with dignity, but they cannot choose the death itself," he said.
The Catholic community was the first to adopt a"hospice" service, which lets terminally ill patients prepare for death through religious or other activities instead of receiving meaningless and excessive treatment.
Lee has served in numerous positions, including as a Catholic ethics committee member and governmental committee member for organ transplantation.
He will be active for two years, directing eight hospitals with more than 5,500 sickbeds.