[Editorial] The Death Penalty is Uncivilized

A person who lost three family members to the serial murder Yu Yeong Cheol has announced that he wants to "make him my adoptive son and look after him as a child." How could the rest of us understand the pain and rage of losing even one's only son? But the man is extending his hand the death row inmate, saying, "it is not right for one human being to judge another."

There is no such thing as a consistent, fair, and errorless judicial system. A recent series of planned reports by the Hankyoreh reveal serious miscarriages of justice. One man was found guilty of a crime committed by a friend and was released only eight years later. The friend confessed, and the man had only been around for that because his death sentence had been commuted. Had he not survived three rounds of executions, he would have forever been a vindictive ghost. There still remains the possibility someone could have the truth of his case buried in the courts' prejudice without ever having the right opportunity to defend himself, or that someone could be sacrificed for political reasons, which is what happened to the men framed and quickly executed in the "Committee to Reconstruct the People's Revolutionary Party" case.

There is no scientific evidence that capital punishment deters crime, and permanently removing the most brutal criminals from society is inconsistent with the principle of correction, which is rehabilitation. The members of the gang known as Jijonpa ate their victims, but they turned to religion and went to the gallows only after pledging to donate their organs. The way to truly honor victims is not to target perpetrators with revenge, but for society to help them in their mental and economic difficulties.

The countries that have abolished capital punishment did not have support for that from the start. When France did away with the death penalty 66 percent of that country wanted it maintained, by the parliament abolished it anyway, saying "the people's will is to have righteous legislation." Since the Fifteenth National Assembly, Korea, too, has seen no less than three such bills submitted, but none of them have been really discussed. Fortunately the Ministry of Justice recently decided to engage in an official review of the pros and cons of getting rid of the death sentence. We must not lose this opportunity to elevate our society to a higher and more mature level.

The Hankyoreh, 28 March 2006.

[Translations by Seoul Selection]