South Korean doctors will be allowed to remove life support from terminally ill patients after confirming their wish to die, under new medical guidelines on mercy killing.
The guidelines were drawn up by a committee of 18 representatives from parliament, civic groups and the judicial, religious and medical communities, the health ministry said on Wednesday.
They agreed that doctors could stop prolonged life-sustaining treatment, based only on prior written or oral statements from patients.
But they failed to agree on mercy killing for mentally disabled and other patients who cannot express their wish, the ministry said.
Ministry officials said the guidelines would be used to enact a new law on euthanasia, although no timetable has been set for when parliament would debate the legislation.
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