Alone Caring for Sick Wife, Killed Her... Solutions to Repeated 'Caregiver Murders'

Caring for Dementia Wife, Fearing Burden on Children, Decides on 'Extreme Choice'
Caregiving Seen as 'Social Responsibility' Expands... About 90% of Private Caregiving Is 'Family Care'

The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] Cases of caregiving for sick family members leading to economic and psychological pressure, ultimately resulting in murder, continue to occur. Experts emphasize that alongside expanding caregiving facilities, a comprehensive welfare service system that can provide family-level trust must be established.

A man in his 70s, Mr. A, living in Buk-gu, Busan, was sentenced to four years in prison on the 21st for strangling his wife of 40 years, who was suffering from severe dementia. Mr. A, who was a level 5 physically disabled person, had been caring for his wife alone since she developed dementia in April. However, her condition worsened daily, to the point where she could no longer control her bladder and bowels. To make matters worse, Mr. A himself developed depression, cerebral infarction, and dementia symptoms.

Eventually, Mr. A decided to commit joint suicide with his wife, thinking he could not burden his children. He killed Mrs. B but failed to take his own life.

The photo is not related to any specific expression in the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The burden of caregiving leading to murder is not uncommon. The 'Kang Do-young case' last month, where a father who had been hospitalized for nearly a year due to a cerebral hemorrhage was neglected after discharge and died, revealed the problems of 'exclusive caregiving' in our society. Kang Do-young (a pseudonym), 22, had been living with his father, Mr. C, for over ten years. Last September, Mr. C was hospitalized with symptoms of deep cerebral hemorrhage and subarachnoid hemorrhage, which led to financial difficulties such as overdue rent and disconnection of his mobile phone and city gas.

Although hospital bills were covered with help from the father's siblings and other relatives, when assistance was no longer available, Kang discharged his father on April 23. From May 1, Kang provided no therapeutic meals or water to his father, and Mr. C was found dead in the master bedroom of their home on May 8.

During police investigation, Kang stated, "I was not capable of handling my father's care alone, and due to financial reasons such as debt, I was mentally very distressed and made a wrong decision." The court sentenced Kang to four years in prison on charges of killing a dependent.

Following the case, political circles and civil society began to reexamine the social responsibility of caregiving. They viewed the state's responsibility as greater than the individual's in the fact that Kang could not help but neglect his father's death. Especially, the recognition that anyone can face difficulties due to caregiving in the context of most families being small, consisting of two to three members, gained traction.

However, despite the growing awareness of caregiving as a social issue, there are no proper statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare on family caregiving. According to the thesis "Estimation of Private Caregiving Costs and Policy Implications for Integrated Nursing and Caregiving Services" (Lee Jin-sun et al., 2021), the demand for private caregiving reaches 89,438,000 people, of which 78,770,000 are family caregiving cases, accounting for about 90% of private family caregiving. According to 2018 data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the average monthly burden when hiring a caregiver is 2.8 million KRW. It appears that many people directly care for family members due to high caregiving costs and other economic reasons.

Experts advise that problems arising from private caregiving, such as caregiving-related murders, are complex issues intertwined with population aging and government policies, and thus should be approached from a long-term perspective.

Professor Jung Hyung-sun of Yonsei University's Department of Health Administration said, "The government has introduced various policies such as the Long-Term Care Insurance System for the Elderly and the National Responsibility System for Dementia to address caregiving issues. However, caregiving problems are deepening alongside population aging, making them difficult to resolve in the short term. Also, many people feel a sense of duty as family members to take responsibility for their sick relatives, so while expanding caregiving facilities, it is important to ensure trust in these facilities."

He added, "We can also refer to Japan's kaigo (介護, nursing care) facilities, which are small-scale multifunctional complex facilities that provide prevention, care, benefits, and connect daily life and welfare services in a community-based integrated medical care model."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.