Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Seoul (Agenzia Fides) - "For years there have been no executions in Korea, the Catholic Church has always reiterated "no to the death penalty" and welcomes the initiative of parliamentarians, Christians and non, who have collected signatures to ask for the abolition of capital punishment from Korean law": says Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung, Archbishop of Seoul, to Agenzia Fides, while the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), a government body, is conducting a campaign with the goal of officially abolishing the death penalty law.
"It is true that in the Korean society there are those who still support it. There is a fear that eliminating it can encourage crime. The Catholic community, in recent years, has always witnessed and encouraged respect for life and the logic of forgiveness, accompanying also the families of the victims", said the Cardinal in an interview with Agenzia Fides in Seoul.
The goal of the abolition, observers say, is at hand, also thanks to the favorable attitude of the Korean President, the Catholic Moon Jae-in. The head of the Human Rights Commission's political office, Shim Sang-don, said: "We are working on an announcement by President Moon Jae-in on the death penalty moratorium on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights this year". The moratorium would be a step forward in the formal process towards abolition. Meanwhile, a discussion has been launched with the Ministry of Justice to establish the steps to be taken, Shim added, noting that "President Moon gave a positive response to the abolition when we raised the issue last December".
In South Korea, capital punishment is in force to punish serious crimes. But the state has not carried out a death sentence on prisoners on death row since December 1997. Amnesty International considers countries that do not carry out a condemnation for more than 10 years "de facto abolitionists".
The Human Rights Commission maintained its position in support of the repeal of the death penalty, recommending it to the Korean Parliament in April 2005, and presented a petition to the Constitutional Court in July 2009. Now the Commission will present an abolitionist project, with particular attention to alternative measures.
Currently there are 61 prisoners, including military officers, convicted and imprisoned on death row in South Korea. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 25/6/2018)
