The Korean Network for Organ Sharing (KONOS) under the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said that 375 brain dead people donated organs between January and November 2012. The figure is more than 10-fold the 36 in 2002.

“The public has become more positive about organ donation. A growing number of people pledge to donate their organs in the event that they become brain dead or when they die, while in other cases family members of brain dead patients decide if their relatives should donate organs, thinking it will make the death nobler. Such a change in social recognition has pushed the figure up,” a KONOS official said.

From the 375 patients, 706 kidneys were transplanted, along with 334 livers, 99 hearts, 33 lungs and 31 pancreases. The youngest donor was a 4-month-old girl. After suffering brain death, the parents decided to donate her organs, and her heart was given to an 11-month-old girl and her kidney, to a 56-year-old woman.

But the increasing number is still far short of the demand because more than 22,000 people were waiting for organ donations as of November 2012. The KONOS estimates that about 900 people die per year while waiting for transplants.