Former President Jimmy Carter, the longest-serving president in US history who has been battling cancer at the age of 98 this year, has decided to stop hospital treatment. Former President Carter, who served as president from 1977 to 1981, was deeply involved in diplomacy on the Korean Peninsula, holding talks with President Kim Il-sung after his retirement and mediating the North Korean nuclear crisis.
The Carter Center, which was founded by former President Carter and his wife Rosalyn Carter, said in a statement on the 18th (local time), “Former President Carter chose to spend the rest of his life at home with his family and receive hospice treatment instead of additional treatment.” Hospice treatment is a way to reduce pain until the end of life instead of life-sustaining treatment for patients who are unlikely to recover.
Former President Carter was diagnosed with skin cancer melanoma metastasizing to the brain and liver in 2015, but continued to teach Sunday School at the church, and a few months later announced that the cancer was cured. Afterwards, after falling three times in 2019, he recovered and engaged in active social activities such as the Habitat for Humanity building movement. However, his health has deteriorated due to his recent advanced age, such as being unable to attend the inauguration ceremony of President Joe Biden in 2021. Former President Carter became the longest-serving U.S. president in history when former President George H. Bush died in 2018 at the age of 94.
Former President Carter, a former peanut farmer, ran for the presidential election as a Democratic candidate immediately after serving as governor of Georgia (first term). In this presidential election held in 1976, he defeated former President Gerald Ford to become the 39th president. As anti-war public opinion spread due to the defeat in the Vietnam War, former President Carter, who was elected, pushed for the withdrawal of US forces in Korea immediately after his inauguration.
Former President Carter accelerated “détente” between the US and China and led to an agreement between Israel and Egypt that fought the Middle East war. However, as bad news such as the second oil shock, soaring prices, and the American hostage incident in Iran overlapped, he lost the presidential election to former President Ronald Reagan, earning the stigma of “the most unpopular president in American history.”
Former President Carter, who returned to his hometown of Georgia in 1981 at the age of 56, has since been active as a dispute solver and has been evaluated as ‘the greatest former president’. As the danger of war escalated due to the North Korean nuclear crisis, on June 24, 1994, 14 days before Kim Il-sung’s death, he made a surprise visit to North Korea and had talks to discuss a freeze on the North Korean nuclear program, which resulted in the Geneva Agreement. He was even awarded the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize.
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Source: Donga