For the First Time, South Korea Voted in Favor of a UN Resolution on the Death Penalty Moratorium: Why?

[경향신문]

The South Korean government cast a vote in favor of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty at the United Nations (UN) General Assembly.

This is the first time that South Korea has voted in favor of an end to capital punishment in the international community. The latest vote is a step closer toward abolishing the death penalty.

According to the justice ministry on November 18, the government voted in favor of a moratorium on the use of the death penalty at the Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian, and Cultural) of the 75th UN General Assembly held in New York on the afternoon of November 17 (local time). The resolution was passed with the support of 120 states, while 39 countries voted against the resolution and 24 countries abstained. South Korea maintains the death penalty, but it has not executed a death sentence for nearly 23 years since December 1997.

The Ministry of Justice announced, “We voted in favor of the resolution after considering the international community’s awareness of the Republic of Korea as a country that has practically abolished capital punishment, as well as the fact that the number of countries supporting the resolution has constantly increased.” The ministry further said, “The latest vote is meaningful for the government has joined in the international community’s efforts to protect the right to life, an absolute basic right.”

However, the ministry added, “The latest vote does not mean the government has the responsibility to abolish the death penalty or to change its criminal justice system. Since abolishing the death penalty is a serious issue connected to the foundation of the state’s right to punish crimes, we will carefully conduct a comprehensive review of the death penalty’s function as a criminal policy, the public opinion and legal consciousness, and the situation in and outside the country.”

The UN has adopted resolutions on the death penalty moratorium with a view to abolish capital punishment in the General Assembly since 2007. In 2007, 104 countries supported the resolution. In the past, the government had abstained claiming that the government had yet to determine an official position and that it would withhold its decision on the phrase, “establish a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty.”

In the 5th country report on human rights practices, which the justice ministry submitted to the UN in May, the ministry presented a general position stating, “The decision to maintain or abolish capital punishment is an important issue linked to the foundation of the state’s right to punish crimes, so the government will comprehensively review the opinions of the people on the death penalty, the function of the death penalty as a criminal policy, relevant recommendations by international organizations, as well as overseas trends.”

Yoon Ji-hyun, national director of Amnesty International Korea said, “Starting with the declaration of a moratorium, we must remove the death penalty, an arbitrary and discriminatory punishment as well as a policy that violates the right to life, from our society.”