“알 권리” vs “인권” 거듭된 신상공개 논란과 한국의 사형제 실효성은?
Last September, the 32-year-old Jeon Joo-hwan, who the media has dubbed the “Sindang Station stalker killer,” allegedly stabbed his female colleague in a ladies room at Sindang Station in Seoul.
The prosecution recently asked the court for the death penalty.
His sentence hearing is set for February 7th.
Even if he gets death sentence, he will not be executed as South Korea is classified as an “abolitionist in practice country.”
Then if Jeon does get the heaviest penalty, what would happen to him?
One more issue is which pictures of a suspect can be unveiled by the police.
The identity of a 31-year-old man who is accused of killing a taxi driver and his ex-girlfriend was unveiled in the hope of finding more information.
But the suspect refused to have his mugshot revealed, so the police could only release the picture on his driving license which is reportedly very different from his actual appearance.
For an in-depth analysis on South Korea’s death penalty and matter on unveiling suspect’s identity, we invited Professor Song Se-ryun from Kyung Hee University Law School on the line from Portland.
Professor Song, welcome to the show.
And we also have Lee Hee-eun, Professor from Handong International Law School on the line from Pohang.
Professor, thank you for your time.
Q1. South Korea still technically has capital punishment, keeping death penalty under Article 41 of the Criminal Code. But it is classified as an “abolitionist in practice country,” with the last execution taking place in 1997. Why no actual executions since then?
I would like to look quickly at the pros and cons of the death penalty.
Q2. The constitutional court revisited the death penalty policy in 2019, petitioned by a man surnamed Yun, who is convicted of killing his parents. His attorneys say there is no concrete research that proves the death penalty actually helps lower crime levels. How do you see its effect as a deterrent?
Q3. One of the reasons for not actually executing those sentenced to death is the possibility of an incorrect guilty verdict. How often does this happen statistically?
Q4. According to a report from the Death Penalty Information Center, many executions this year were “botched” meaning lethal injections inflicted torture on death row inmates. That kind of fallout from the wrong procedures could make not only the inmates but also witnesses, families and correction personnel suffer as well. How many such cases occur and how does this impact on the public opinion on the death penalty?
Q5. Apart from the issue of human dignity or justice, I heard there are some voices that say the constitutional court should not be the one to decide the legality of capital punishment because there is no clause that clearly states that. What is this about?
Q6. This is the third time the constitutional court is reviewing the legitimacy of death penalty. What were the previous verdicts and how are judges of the current court considering this issue?
Q7. I heard there is going to be a change in the members of the constitutional court within this year. Though we cannot assume how the result might change based on the political stance that the members of the court have, if those deemed “progressive” are replaced, could that be another variable that could affect the result?
Q8. Interestingly, though the Justice Ministry is in favor of the death penalty, the Yoon administration voted in favor of a resolution for a moratorium on death penalties at the UN General Assembly last December. How should we think of this discrepancy and where is South Korea aiming to go regarding this issue?
Q9. How many death row inmates are there currently, and what happens to them given that South Korea is deemed as abolitionist in practice country? And if the death penalty is ruled either entirely or partially unconstitutional, how is it going to be?
Q10. Are any other countries looking to abolish the death penalty, and if so, how are they doing it…
#Death_penalty #Crime #Arirang_News
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2023-01-19, 18:30 (KST)
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