After interviewing 42 death row inmates, researcher believes capital punishment should end
Every weekday before 1997, death row inmates in Korea braced themselves between 6 and 9 a.m. — the hours when executions could happen. If 9 a.m. passed uneventfully, they felt relief. Then they went to sleep wondering if the next morning would be their last. No one has been executed since Dec. 30, 1997, but 56 people remain on death row — 52 in Ministry of Justice correctional facilities and four…
A researcher has interviewed 42 death row inmates in Korea and believes that the country should end capital punishment. Prior to 1997, death row inmates braced themselves every weekday between 6 and 9 a.m. for the possibility of execution, but no one has been executed since December 30, 1997. However, 56 people remain on death row, with 52 in Ministry of Justice correctional facilities and four in military prisons.
Kim Dae-keun, a research fellow at the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice, found that most inmates were ashamed, distressed, or regretful about their actions. Despite their crimes, many of the inmates interviewed were older, frail men, suggesting that the death penalty may not be an effective deterrent. October 10 marks World Day Against the Death Penalty, an international observance calling for the abolition of executions as judicial punishment.
In Korea, the day arrives with the death penalty still on the books but widely regarded as unenforceable.
Brief written by urgent.news from The Korea Times's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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