Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon speaks during a parliamentary session in Seoul on Aug. 23, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Justice Minister Han Dong-hoon has ordered correctional institutions to inspect their execution facilities for proper maintenance, sources said Wednesday.
Han made the instruction last week to four correctional institutions that house execution facilities, including the Seoul and Busan Detention Centers, and the Daegu and Daejeon Correctional Institutions, the legal sources said.
The instruction came as South Korea has seen a sharp rise in brutal crimes recently, including two random stabbing rampages in and around Seoul, which left several people dead.
South Korea is categorized as a death penalty abolitionist in practice globally, having carried out no execution since the last one in December 1997.
Han told a parliamentary session Wednesday properly managing and maintaining law enforcement facilities is part of the justice ministry’s duties as long as the country retains the capital punishment system.
Asked if he had the revival of executions in mind when delivering the order, Han said it is a matter that should be determined in consideration of its function, public sentiment, and domestic and global circumstances.
(Yonhap)
