S Korea-AI death penalty report Death row inmates rise by four to 61 in S. Korea last year

SEOUL (Yonhap) - Four more death sentences were imposed in South Korea last year, raising the total number of prisoners on death row to 61 in a country that has not executed any in over a decade, human rights group Amnesty International said on Monday. In its annual report on the death penalty, Amnesty said a total of 96 countries have now abolished the death penalty for all crimes, the highest number ever, while China sentenced thousands of people to death last year even as the combined number in the rest of the world dropped. The report also noted that at least 60 people were executed in North Korea last year, adding approximately 527 executions were carried out in 23 countries, excluding China. South Korea still issues the death penalty, but has not carried out an execution since February 1998 when Kim Dae-jung -- who was himself sentenced to death in 1980 but later pardoned -- became president. In 2007, Amnesty International categorized South Korea as a country that has "virtually abolished capital punishment," as it has not carried out an execution since late 1997. "South Korea now stands at a crossroads whether to abolish or maintain the death penalty," Kim Hee-jin, secretary-general of Amnesty International Korea, said at a briefing. "There is a growing consensus among lawmakers over abolishing capital punishment, with abolishment proposals pending in the National Assembly. We urge the parliament to make a prompt decision on the issue." The Constitutional Court upheld the death penalty in a 5-4 decision early last year, acknowledging it as a legal punishment to deter crime. It is the second time the court has ruled in favor of the death penalty, having said in 1996 the social climate was not right to abolish it. Soon after the ruling, Justice Minister Lee Kwi-nam said he considered building an execution facility at a local prison, rekindling the debate over the de-facto moratorium on the death penalty. Six months later, the Justice Ministry said it had scrapped the plan.