[더오래]80% of Koreans agree for euthanasia, but the criminal law…

This is the time when I was writing a series of articles in the JoongAng Ilbo about Korea’s death culture after the 2018 Life-Saving Care Decision Act came into effect. One day, one of the readers read the article and called, and his voice looked pretty young. I wanted to go to Switzerland and choose euthanasia (assisted suicide), but I did not know what to do, so I asked for some guidance as I knew. When asked why young people think that way, they say that they are already over 60 and are currently suffering from an incurable disease.

Not only did he lack information about the Swiss euthanasia groups, but he convinced him to change his resolve again, with the conviction that he should first seek the person who wanted to die. He said that he made a decision after long deliberation and now wants to choose a comfortable death because his illness will only multiply over time. However, I couldn’t give a quick answer in a situation where I didn’t know what my illness was and had no one-sided knowledge. When there was no progress in the conversation over a few minutes, he hung up saying he knew.

I only thought it was about a distant country, but I decided to investigate more specifically because there are people in Korea who also want to be euthanized. In March 2019, the Seoul Newspaper dispatched a reporter to Switzerland to report on the whole picture of euthanasia being performed there for the first time in Korea. The article said that two Korean citizens have already died in Switzerland by euthanasia, and 107 people are preparing or waiting for euthanasia. In a word, it was amazing. In our society, when euthanasia was taboo and restrained, two terminally ill patients flew to Switzerland and chose euthanasia. Why did they have to go to Switzerland?

The reporter who reported on Swiss euthanasia met a friend who was accompanied by the protagonist’s euthanasia and heard about the process. In addition, in November 2020, the report was supplemented and the record was published in a book. At the same time, there is a similar case in Japan where he flew to Switzerland and chose euthanasia. In Japan, a sister accompanies her to euthanize her younger brother who is suffering from an incurable disease. In Japan, a documentary writer published a book by covering them before and after euthanasia, and it was also introduced in Korea last year. Below are excerpts from these books and data collected so far.

There are five organizations in Switzerland that practice euthanasia. The largest of these is’EXIT’, which was established in 1982 and has 110,000 members. However, only Swiss nationals can join this place. Switzerland has a population of 8.6 million, which means 1.2% of all citizens have joined. In 1998, a Swiss lawyer founded a group called’DIGNITAS’, which allows foreigners to join, thinking that everyone has the right to die when they want to. This is the group where the Korean people chose euthanasia.

It has 9000 members and has 89 members worldwide. In 2011, a 61-year-old female doctor who worked at Dignitas became independent and established an additional organization called’Lifecircle’. The Japanese went to Switzerland in 2018 and died of euthanasia here. There is also an organization called’Eternal Spirit’ created by the doctor who founded Life Circle, which is a foundation that works for low-income people who are unable to enter nursing homes or receive assisted suicide. In addition, there is’Exit International’, chosen by Dr. David Goodall of Australia in 2018.

How much does it cost to become a member of an organization? In the case of Swiss Dignitas, the initial subscription fee is 200 Swiss francs (250,000 won), and membership is maintained only after an annual fee of 80 Swiss francs (about 100,000 won) is paid. Assisted suicide costs an additional 15,500 Swiss francs (about 1,326 million won), which is used for doctor’s diagnosis, prescription of medicine, funeral and administrative treatment. Unlike those with Swiss nationality, foreigners are surprisingly expensive. People who cannot afford to afford euthanasia, and even if they have money, cannot travel long distances, it is difficult.

Since when and why did Switzerland allow euthanasia? Euthanasia has been tolerated in Switzerland since 1942. At the beginning of the trial, euthanasia was allowed to patients suffering from terminal cancer or general paralysis, but now even those who suffer from depression and lose their desire for life are allowed. The most important thing to look at here is whether or not you have made your own decisions based on your medical records and integrity. Switzerland’s toleration of euthanasia is due to the sentiment of respecting individual self-determination, but the high suicide rate is one reason. If you can’t prevent suicide, you’re leaving the way to die humanly.

According to 1994 statistics, the suicide rate in Switzerland was 21.3 per 100,000. At that time, the suicide rate in Korea was almost twice as high as 11.5. It is surprising that the suicide rate is high in a country like Switzerland with a good environment and good social welfare. After the activation of euthanasia, the suicide rate in Switzerland gradually declined and in 2016 decreased to 12.5. On the other hand, in Korea, the number of people increased to 25.8 in the same year. Disgracefully, Korea’s suicide rate is currently the number one among OECD countries. In particular, the suicide rate among the elderly was 58.6, more than three times the average of 18.8 in OECD countries. Why.

The life expectancy of Koreans was only 60 years old in the 1970s. Since then, with the development of medicine, life expectancy has increased to 80 years. However, despite the increase in life expectancy, the healthy lifespan of living alone without disease is not proportional to this. Naturally, the time to suffer from illness has increased. As we get older, we inevitably suffer from diseases such as cancer and dementia. In addition, if even the body cannot move according to his will, the patient’s self-esteem falls to the bottom and it is easy to lose the motivation for life.

Like the saying that there is no filial piety for a long illness, the pain of the family who has to protect the patient also increases. One of the wishes of dying patients is that they don’t want to bother others, but patients sometimes make extreme choices after worrying. However, suicide is often accompanied by pain, and it hurts the remaining family members. Therefore, suicide that leads to death alone must be avoided somehow. It is euthanasia that Switzerland introduced as an alternative.

How was euthanasia activated in Switzerland? Article 115 of the Swiss Criminal Code stipulates that’if a person commits suicide or attempts suicide with selfish motives by inducing or helping another person to commit suicide or attempted suicide, he shall be punished by imprisonment or fine for up to five years. In other words, if it is not for selfish purposes, it can be interpreted as meaning not to punish. In addition, there is no provision to regulate or punish the basis for allowing foreign assisted suicide. On the other hand, Korean criminal law is punished even if it helps patients in good faith. To avoid harming your family, you have to make extreme choices yourself. What is the feeling of the patient who has to go without saying goodbye?

It has been three years since the Life-sustaining Care Determination Act, which can stop meaningless life-sustaining treatment, was implemented. It is said that the legal basis has been established, but life-sustaining treatment continues in the actual field. Hospitals obsess over medical care because it is the doctor’s calling to prolong the patient’s life no matter what. On the other hand, even if you want to stop treatment, you may get caught up in a problem, so you are passive about stopping life-saving treatment. It is only the patient’s responsibility to suffer in the midst of it. Should there be more comprehensive measures for terminally ill patients?

The euthanasia system, which started in Switzerland, has spread to neighboring countries in Europe, and now it is spreading to eight states including Oregon in the US, Canada, some provinces in Australia, and Colombia in South America. In 2019, the Seoul Newspaper and a public opinion polling agency surveyed 1,000 adults in Korea, and 80% of the people agreed to euthanasia. Now is the time for our society to not only dismiss euthanasia as a foreign affair, but to discuss how to reduce the problem and comfortably face death for end-of-life patients. As a result, it would be nice if the suicide rate was reduced like in Switzerland. Even now, everyone who dies and whoever remains wishes for a comfortable death.

Head of Beautiful Life School [email protected]