S.Korean removed from life support in landmark case

SEOUL, June 23 (Reuters) - Doctors at a Seoul hospital on Tuesday became the first medical team in South Korea to take a patient off life support under a court order, in a case experts said changed how the country addresses a patient's right to die.

Doctors at Yonsei University's Severance Hospital removed the life support system that had kept Kim Ok-kyung, 77, alive since she lapsed into a persistent vegetative state in February 2008, a hospital official said.

A Seoul court last year granted the request of Kim's family to remove her from life support, saying doctors should respect the will of the patient and family if a patient's medical condition renders further treatment meaningless.

Local media said it was the first time a South Korean court had granted the request of a family to allow a patient to "die with dignity". The hospital appealed the decision but the Supreme Court in May upheld the lower court's ruling.

"This case will help other families in similar situations," said Kwak Sook-young, the director of bio-ethics and safety at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs.

At present, families seeking to remove life support in almost all cases must go before a court to seek approval for their petitions, experts said.

Medical ethicists have called on policymakers to establish a system dictating who can make a decision about when to take a patient off life support and how best to respect patients' wishes.

(Reporting by Jon Herskovitz and Christine Kim; Editing by Ken Wills and Dean Yates)