Social consensus is necessary for South Korea to end its moratorium on execution of death row inmates, a senior presidential official said Monday, as last week's shocking kidnapping and rape of a seven-year-old girl has raised calls for resuming executions.
South Korean courts still hand down the death penalty, but the country has not carried out an execution since some two dozen convicts were last executed in late 1997. In 2007, Amnesty International categorized South Korea as a country that has "virtually abolished capital punishment."
Currently, about 60 convicts are on death row.
Fresh calls for resuming executions have risen in the wake of last week's child rape that left the little girl with a ruptured rectum and other serious injuries. A 23-year-old jobless man living in the girl's neighborhood in the southern city of Naju has been arrested and confessed to breaking into the girl's home, and kidnapping and raping her.
"This is not something the government should take the initiative on," a senior presidential official said of the possibility of resuming executions. "Social consensus is needed, including discussions on whether capital punishment can deter crimes."
The official said the government is watching how the public views the issue.
(Source: Yonhap News Agency)
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