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Recurrence of violent crimes reignites debate over death penalty
A 30 year-old man identified only by his surname Choi is escorted by police to a court hearing, Saturday. The court issued a warrant to arrest him for assaulting and raping a woman on a hiking trail in Sillim-dong in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
Criminologists say death penalty would not have deterrent effect
By Jun Ji-hye
Brutal stabbings and the violent rape of a school teacher on her way to work in a residential area of Seoul in recent weeks have not only escalated fears among the public, but also reignited a fierce debate over resuming the executions of death row inmates in Korea, which were halted 26 years ago.
After Cho Seon, 33, went on a stabbing spree killing one man and wounding three others near Sillim Station in Seoul, July 21, a similar knife rampage occurred, Aug. 3, by 22-year-old Choi Won-jong near Seohyeon Station in Gyeonggi Province, that left one woman dead and 13 others wounded.
A combined photo shows Choi Won-jong, left, the suspect of a stabbing rampage near Seohyeon Station, and Cho Seon, the suspect of knife attacks near Sillim Station. Yonhap
Then on Thursday, a 30-year-old man, identified only by his surname Choi, brutally assaulted and raped a woman on a hiking trail in Sillim-dong. He was arrested on Saturday, and the victim, who remained unconscious following the attack, died later that day.
Korea is categorized as a death penalty abolitionist in practice by Amnesty International, a non-governmental organization focused on human rights, as the country has not carried out any executions since Dec. 30, 1997.
But the country still maintains the death penalty and courts continue to sentence criminals to capital punishment. The number of death-row convicts stood at 60 as of last year, according to Amnesty International's annual report published in May.
Shocked by the recent crimes, people have expressed their anger on internet communities, demanding that law enforcement authorities sentence the suspects to death and carry out the executions.
“I was quite skeptical about the death penalty, but changed my mind recently as brutal crimes have continued to occur,” one online user wrote on Naver.
Another said, “The country's punishment against felons is too weak. Death penalties should be carried out again to prevent similar crimes.”
A bereaved family member of the victim of Cho Seon's stabbing attack posted a petition on a website run by the National Assembly, demanding that the death penalty be carried out against the perpetrator “so he cannot be released and commit such a crime again.”
A woman lays flowers on the street near Seohyeon Station in Gyeonggi Province, Aug. 7, where one woman was killed and 13 others were wounded during a stabbing rampage on Aug. 3. Korea Times photo by Seo Jae-hoon
Contrary to the heated public opinions over reinstating the death penalty, most experts appear to be skeptical about its effectiveness in preventing violent crimes.
Seung Jae-hyun, a senior researcher at the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice, said public anger over the recent incidents is understandable, but added that carrying out the death penalty will not lead to a significant reduction in similar crimes.
“The suspects in the recent cases are not the types of people who would not commit crimes because they are afraid of being punished,” Seung said, referring to the perpetrators of the stabbing rampages near Sillim and Seohyeon stations who made no attempts to resist arrest.
“Preventive measures are more urgent. The central and local governments should sort out high-risk groups of people and have them treated in advance,” Seung said.
The Ministry of Justice, which is in charge of carrying out the death penalty, has also taken a cautious attitude. Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon said there are many points to be considered.
“It is a diplomatically sensitive issue too. If the country carries out the death penalty, its relations with European Union countries could be severely strained,” Han said during an appearance before the National Assembly last month.
As an alternative, the ministry is considering creating a sentence of life imprisonment without parole in order to respond more sternly to heinous crimes.
According to the Amnesty International report, death penalties were carried out in 20 countries against 883 people in 2022, up 53 percent from a year earlier. The sharp increase was attributed to Middle Eastern and North African countries as more death penalties were carried out in those regions.
The organization said its statistics did not reflect cases in China, which is known to carry out thousands of executions every year, as the nation treats such cases as confidential information.