Euthanasia Approved first time in S. Korea

A Seoul court Friday accepted a family's request to stop treatment for a mother in a vegetative state in a landmark ruling that approved euthanasia for the first time in South Korea.

The Seoul Western District Court ordered feeding and ventilator tubes to be removed from the 75-year-old woman, who was identified only by her surname Kim, saying, "The patient is in a hopeless state with no chance of recovery and it is possible to assume that she intends to stop her treatment."

Kim's children had sought court approval for her euthanasia after she fell into a coma while receiving a lung examination in February.