Health ministry honors 16 end-of-life decision contest winners

The health ministry said Tuesday it honored 16 winning entries in a 2026 contest designed to broaden discussion of end-of-life treatment decisions and a dignified end to life. The awards ceremony was held at 2 p.m. Aug. 25 at Myeong-dong UNESCO Hall in Seoul's Jung District.

The contest, divided between a public category and one for health-care workers and other professionals, drew 405 entries, more than twice the 2024 total. The ministry said the increase showed growing public interest in end-of-life self-determination and decisions on life-sustaining treatment. Two top-prize winners received health ministry awards and 1 million won each, while four excellence-prize winners received 500,000 won each and 10 encouragement-prize winners received 300,000 won each.

Top prizes went to “Who Writes Your Last Sentence?” in the public category and “Living With Death Beside Us” in the workers’ category. The latter follows a patient in his 80s with dementia and his son as they confront a decision on life-sustaining treatment, while the first uses a camellia blossom at Seonunsa Temple to portray the natural cycle of life and death.

The life-sustaining treatment decision system sets out procedures for patients who are dying to forgo or discontinue medically futile life-sustaining treatment. The ministry also introduced a feature that lets people share advance life-sustaining treatment directives with family through text message, KakaoTalk or email.

“Through the contest, we were able to confirm again that decisions on life-sustaining treatment are an important choice closely connected to the lives of patients and their families,” Gwak Soon-heon, the ministry’s health-care policy director, said. “We will continue to improve access to the system and strengthen support for participating medical institutions so that people’s wishes are respected through the end of life.”

The winning works will be introduced through the National Agency for Management of Life-Sustaining Treatment’s website and social media channels.