A thesis attached to the Korean version of the U

A thesis attached to the Korean version of the U.N. Development Program's report on human rights and development stated: "There are too many crimes punishable by death penalty in Korea... A total of 979 criminals were executed between the founding of the nation and 1996 year." According to the report's author, Professor Chang Bok-hee of Seoul National University, 94 nations, including the United States and Japan, still maintain the capital punishment system, but apply it to just five to six crimes. In contrast, in Korea, 89 types of crimes are punishable by the death penalty, more than 15 times the average of other nations. Chang suggested several alternatives to the death penalty, such as reducing the types of crimes subject to capital punishment, establishing an age limit to prevent older people from receiving death penalties and sentencing criminals to life imprisonment.