నైరూప్య

Is a system of compensation for the donation of human organs ethically justified? Focused on South Korea.

Chang Rok Jeong

Unlike the donation of blood or eggs, when a living person donates one of their organs it has the potential to impact the life of the donor. I think that a reasonable compensation system should be established for the donation of organs. I believe that establishment of an effective compensation system for human organs would prevent human-organ purchases and to be practically helpful for organ procurement. Currently, the relative level of compensation for human organs is very low in South Korea. On the other hand, Gimhae-city in South Korea has a relatively strong compensation ordinance for organ donation, both for living donations as well as those made after death. In this paper, I discuss the compensation system for human organs in Gimhae-city, and attempt to search for an ethical justification for such a system.