The number of people pledging to donate their organs has jumped 12-fold over the past decade to some 600,000.

The Korean Network for Organ Sharing says there were only 47,000 donors in 2000. Last year 185,000 people signed up, up from 75,000 in 2008.

The organ sharing agency attributed the spike to the late Cardinal Stephen Kim Sou-hwan, who donated his corneas after his death last year.

On top of the agency's increased campaigns to attract more donors, the government plans to ease complicated procedures for organ donation.