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There are about 60 prisoners on death row in Korea now, but since December 30, 1997, no actual execution has been executed since then.

Therefore, although it is a country that abolishes the death penalty in effect, the death penalty is maintained along with the United States and Japan among OECD member countries.

Then, at the end of last year, it was evaluated that Korea took the first step to abolish the death penalty by approving the UN's resolution to suspend executions. The government has revealed.



This is reporter Kim Kwan-jin.



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In November of last year, Korea voted in favor of a resolution to suspend executions at the 3rd committee of the UN General Assembly.



After the first vote in 2007, I abstained all seven times, but this was the first time I agreed.



The Ministry of Justice drew a line saying that the approval of the resolution does not result in a liability for abolition of the death penalty, but said that Korea also participated in the international community's efforts to protect the right to life.



At the time, the National Human Rights Commission welcomed it, saying that it would be a starting point for the abolition of the death penalty.



However, in just two months, the government emphasized the need to preserve the death penalty in its opinion to the Constitution, and in particular clarified its opposition to the'life sentence without parole', which is considered an alternative punishment for the death penalty.



The death penalty is'the most harsh ultimate punishment that takes into account the horror instinct of human death', and has the strongest criminal deterrent, so it can not be replaced with'lifetime sentences without parole'.



[Professor Ji-Bong Lim/Sogang University Law School: I think this is a discussion about the abolition of the death penalty in our society, or something that is severely separated from such a progressive position.] As a



result of a public opinion poll of the National Human Rights Commission of 2018, 20 responses in favor of the abolition of the death penalty were 20 %, and 1 out of 5 people, but 67% of respondents say they favor the abolition when introducing alternative penalties, and 2 out of 3 people greatly increased.



The government's opinion that clearly opposed the alternative punishment is likely to have an impact on the discussion on alternative penal legislation in the National Assembly.



(Video coverage: Moonsan Bae, video editing: Jihye So, CG: Jaeeun Sung, Jaeyoung Choi)