Over 70 percent of South Koreans favor euthanasia for terminal patients when life-support is deemed meaningless, a survey showed Thursday.

In the survey conducted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 72.3 percent of 1,000 respondents said they are in favor of removing life-support devices when there is little or no hope of recovery for a patient.

Nearly 70 percent of those in favor cited emotional pain to other family members as their main reason for supporting what is known as “passive euthanasia,” while 60.2 percent said economic burdens were a major factor.

South Korea currently allows only court-approved euthanasia.

The country’s first case was in 2009 when a Seoul hospital removed a 77-year comatose patient from life-support after the Supreme Court recognized “the patient’s right to die with dignity.”

The same survey showed a majority of South Koreans oppose surrogacy with 77.3 percent of respondents saying the act of bearing a child for another is “ethically wrong” and 68 percent saying the practice should be banned by law.
South Koreans were also negative about organ donations with only 29 percent of those surveyed planning to donate their organs after death. 

(Yonhap News)