A 65-year-old South Korean man, Lee Myung-shik, is asking the country’s Constitutional Court to review South Korea’s ban on assisted dying, in what his lawyer says is the first legal challenge of its kind. Lee, who has been wheelchair-bound since his 2020 diagnosis of acute myelitis, says he experiences constant, severe pain despite treatment with strong opioid medications. He describes ongoing complications including pressure sores and skin necrosis, and he relies on a catheter for urine drainage and a caregiver to manually remove stool.
Lee previously sought assisted death in Switzerland but stopped after learning that helping him could expose his daughter to potential prison time. He later attempted to proceed with plans to travel to Switzerland with support from Dignitas, a Swiss nonprofit that assists people seeking assisted death. Now he seeks a judicial remedy in South Korea, arguing that the current legal restrictions leave him without a viable option for relief.
The reports present Lee’s case and his account of suffering, while noting that South Korea’s assisted-dying rules remain in place as the court challenge is pending.
