Catholic Church: "Death Penalty Is State-Sanctioned Murder... Irreversible Mistake"

The Justice and Peace Committee of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea submitted a "Petition for the Abolition of the Death Penalty and the Legislation of Alternative Punishments" to the National Assembly on the 13th.

In the petition, the Justice and Peace Committee stated, "It is contradictory to prohibit murder as a crime while simultaneously allowing the state to institutionally deprive human life." They also added, "There is no empirical evidence supporting the crime prevention effect of the death penalty."

On the 13th, Bishop Kim Seon-tae, Chairman of the Justice and Peace Committee of the Catholic Bishops' Conference, gave a greeting at a press briefing held prior to submitting a petition to the National Assembly to abolish the death penalty.
[Photo by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea]

They continued, "If the death penalty is carried out based on a wrongful judgment, it cannot be undone even if the real culprit is later identified," and expressed hope that "this petition will trigger discussions in the National Assembly on the abolition of the death penalty system."

At a press conference held at the National Assembly Communication Office prior to submitting the petition, Bishop Kim Seontae, chair of the Justice and Peace Committee, said, "The complete abolition of the death penalty is a promise by the state and society to take greater and heavier responsibility to create a safer society," adding, "We must now move toward becoming a country that has completely abolished the death penalty. I urge our National Assembly to make a decisive decision."

The petition was signed by 75,843 people, including Bishop Lee Yonghun, chair of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Korea, all 25 active bishops, priests, religious, and laypeople. This is the fifth petition of its kind, following previous submissions to the National Assembly in 2006, 2009, 2014, and 2019.

Currently, South Korea is classified as a "de facto abolitionist country." The last execution was carried out on December 30, 1997, when 23 people were executed, and no executions have been conducted since then.

However, the third constitutional court trial regarding the complete abolition of the death penalty is currently underway. The previous two trials (in 1996 and 2010) resulted in rulings upholding its constitutionality. The National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee currently has a pending "Special Act on the Abolition of the Death Penalty," which proposes replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment.