Debate over death penalty reignited
The Park Chung Hee regime prosecuted dozens of individuals in 1974 on charges of attempts to reopen the People’s Revolutionary Party with an aim to overthrow the government.
The Supreme Court convicted eight of them and handed down the death penalty on April 8, 1975. Only 18 hours after the sentence was handed down, the government executed them.
In December 2005, the judiciary accepted the appeal for a retrial and acquittals were made in 2007.
“The state must educate death row inmates to repent and should pay for the necessary expenses for the correction,” DUP Chairman Lee said. “It is the state’s duty to protect one innocent lamb.”
The ruling and opposition parties further continued the debate on Thursday on whether or not the government needs to resume executions. They discussed means to prevent heinous sex crimes against children.
Lawmakers held a hearing on the issue with Justice Minister Kwon Jae-jin to talk about the issue.
Saenuri Party Representative Park Min-shik said the government spent a fortune to keep death row inmates alive in prison, while spending a fraction of the sum to support the victims of sex crimes.
“Until now, the government has spent 25.5 billion won [$22.5 million] to feed death row inmates, while spending just 100 million won to assist the victims,” Park said. “Where is the justice in this?”
He said the government only spent about 10 million won each on the victims of serial killer Yu Yeong-cheol, who murdered at least 20 people from September 2003 to July 2004.
He also pointed out that capital punishment should be carried out within six months of its confirmation at the Supreme Court, citing Article 645 of the criminal code.
“This is more than a nonbinding guideline that you can either choose to respect or ignore,” Park said. “The law said it must be implemented, but the justice ministers for years have all ignored it.”
<question>
1. What do you think about the death penalty in 1970's under Mr Park' regime?2. As the main two parties in Korea show slightly different data regarding death penaly, which side are you in? and Do you think this argument can affect our votes?3. What's your opinion about Ms Park's recent comment on the death penalty on April 8, 1975?
4. Do you think using our taxes for prisoners is wasteful?