“Physician-Assisted Suicide” is different from euthanasia in the traditional sense, in that doctors prepare and administer drugs to patients with no hope of resuscitation. This means that the patient chooses to die himself by directly taking or administering a drug prescribed by a doctor. In 2018, when the Act on Decisions on Life-sustaining Treatment was enacted, patients suffering unacceptable pain in the process of dying were allowed to stop meaningless life-sustaining treatment. After that, in June 2022, the concept of physician-assisted suicide was proposed, which allows patients to choose their own time of death for themselves beyond simply discontinuing life-sustaining treatment. According to the Act on Decisions on Life-sustaining Treatment, three conditions must be met. First, the patient must be terminally ill; second, the patient must chronic intense pain, and finally the patient needs to make a request of assisted death to his doctor and two related specialists directly. After this bill was proposed, active discussions went underway between those who argue that physician-assisted suicide can help people exercise their own rights and those who argue that it is against respect for life. Let's take a closer look at both sides.

These days, while people's interest in 'Well-Dying' is gradually increasing and the concept of physician-assisted suicide appears, discussions on death are also being actively conducted. Representative Ahn Gyuback, who proposed the Act, said, “In the meantime, there has been no discussion on physician-assisted suicide in Korea. I think of death because life is precious, and I never enacted this bill to disregard death. Starting with today’s forum, I hope that meaningful discussions on death with dignity will continue,” explaining the significance of the act on physician-assisted suicide. The Korean Government should actively consider passage of this bill because it protects the rights of patients, leads to a dignified death by individual choice, and reduces the suffering of patients' families.

First, physician-assisted suicide guarantees the patient's right to self-determination. According to Hankook Research's July 2022 data, a poll of 1,000 men and women over the age of 18 across the country on the 'legalization and support for physician-assisted suicide', found that 8 out of 10 were in favor. The ‘guarantee of the right to self-determination’ was the most common reason given at about 25% of respondents. A key reason in favor of physician-assisted suicide is that patients who are able to express their wishes but are in unbearable pain must recognize their right to choose their own life and death, and not to prolong their lives in pain. The Korean Government should regard patients in the process of dying as subjects with the right to self-determine their own lives, not simply as objects of protection in terms of social and medical aspects. Regarding this, Professor Yoon Young-ho of Seoul National University College of Medicine said, “The right to self-determination in life is an inviolable right of the people. A terminally ill patient who has to endure unresolved pain must accept a voluntary, rational and sincere choice to decide the rest of their life,” explaining that physician assisted suicide is meaningful in that the patient can decide about their own life. In other words, physician-assisted suicide is a bill that can help people make decisions to live like human beings.

Secondly, physician assisted suicide leads to a dignified death in that it is a personal choice. It allows terminally ill patients in unacceptable pain to choose their own death. Patients suffering from these afflictions can feel deeply miserable both physically and mentally. Since extending life is the biggest task in current medicine, doctors must prolong patients’ life regardless of the severity of the disease, and patients must endure this situation. In relation to this, Professor Park Joongcheol of the Department of Family Medicine at The Catholic University of Korea explained several cases in which he felt great despair as he witnessed scenes in which human dignity collapsed in an intensive care unit. Then, he added, “We need a culture of human dignity.” In addition, when the British think tank The Economist Institute developed the 'Quality of Death Index' and ranked 80 countries in 2015, Korea ranked 16th, lower than most countries in Europe and other developed countries as well as other major Asian countries. It shows that the “death of Koreans” is not very peaceful, given that it is evaluated as a country with superior medical technologies and health insurance systems in the world. If physician-assisted suicide is available, it allows medical staff to help patients end their lives with a little more dignity. In fact, according to a JTBC news interview, a member of Dignitas, a Swiss assisted dying organization, said, “I can die without suffering much more pain. That one thing is very big in my life,” mentioning that there are times when the help of death and dignity feels like a hope in our difficult daily lives.

Lastly, physician-assisted suicide is necessary in Korea in that it reduces suffering not only for patients but also for their families. Patients in pain feel misery and hardship themselves, but the family members of terminally ill patients also feel physical fatigue and mental pain. In February 2023, there was an incident in which a man in his 80s killed his wife who was suffering from terminal cancer, which is called a ’caregiver murder’. This is a tragedy that is repetitive in the structure that most individuals have to endure in the long term, and it is an example showing that illness causes great pain not only to the person concerned but also to those who are the caregivers. A person who joined four Swiss assisted death organizations said, “300 to 400 million won in 2 to 3 years. That's scary. Hospital expenses are hospital expenses, but people are dying from nursing expenses.” In addition, if life-sustaining treatment is continued for a patient with a very low possibility of recovery, the patient's family will have to bear large economic costs, and they often fall into a dilemma about whether it is appropriate to continue life-sustaining treatment. Therefore, when physician-assisted death is allowed, not only the suffering of patients but also the suffering of their families will be reduced.

If the Korean government does not recognize physician-assisted suicide, those who are on their way to the end enduring unfathomable pains will lose the option of considering their life and death. In addition, the fatigue of patients suffering from inescapable pain will amplify, and their families will also likely feel a great burden both economically and mentally. Therefore, the government should clearly establish the concept of physician-assisted suicide, prepare facilities accordingly, and recognize the concept of the law and help people’s lives and deaths.