Controversy over the death penalty in Korea was rekindled,...

Controversy over the death penalty in Korea was rekindled, as 154 lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties presented a bill aimed at abolishing capital punishment.
In its party meeting, the opposition Grand National Party (GNP) held a heated debate over whether to ban capital punishment.
"It is not the right time to prohibit the death penalty in view of an increasing number of brutal crimes against humanity," said Rep. Kim Mahn-je, chief policymaker of the GNP. "There should first be a national consensus on this issue."
Backing up Kim's claim, Rep. Choi Yeun-hee said that most legal experts still support capital punishment, because there is no special way to deal with death-row inmates who appear impossible to rehabilitate.
In response, opponents of the capital punishment proposed that the GNP should determine its party line or introduce a so-called "cross-voting system" over the legislative attempt to ban the death penalty.
"There is no evidence that capital punishment can reduce the crime rate," Rep. Kwon Oh-eul said. "And the GNP hasn't officially talked about this issue yet."
Rep. Jeon Jae-hee called for party leadership to arrange a set of public hearings and discussion sessions by inviting experts of various walks of lives, and to set up a party line over capital punishment.
"I personally oppose the death penalty. And I think it is desirable to introduce a cross-voting system, considering that 154 lawmakers participated in the legislation bid," Jeon added.
The figure far exceeds the 137 majority votes in the 273-member National Assembly.
The legal circle is also divided over the lawmakers' bid to abolish the death penalty.
The Justice Ministry and the prosecution said that they oppose the legislation bid, while reform oriented lawyers' groups called for capital punishment to be scrapped immediately.
"Although we have capital punishment in our legal system, only a few convicts are executed," said an official at the Justice Ministry. "Maintaining capital punishment can reduce the crime rate."
Reformist lawyers' group, or Lawyers for a Democratic Society, countered that no one has the right to sentence others to death.
"If a judge mistakenly sentences someone to death, the result is irrevocable," said a lawyer at the group.