The state-run organ agency said Friday that the bereaved family of a man who died from a rare condition had decided to donate his vital organs to help those in need of transplants.

Jeong Su-yeon, who was 52, died last month at Inha University Hospital in Incheon, according to the Korea Organ Donation Agency. He had been suffering from Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada disease, a multisystem disease of presumed autoimmune causes that he was diagnosed with 20 years ago.

His heart, lung, liver and kidneys have been donated to five people. Jeong's family said he had wished to donate his organs.

"I am so proud of him for doing his best for the past 20 years as a man, a husband, and a father, despite being sick," his wife was quoted as saying.

Born as the oldest of two siblings in Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon Province, he worked as an engineer at a shelf manufacturer for much of his life. His family said he was a kind person and a dependable father who was always happy to help others, doing volunteer work at his church for a long time.