South Korea
Death penalty and prisoners' rights · Archive since 1999
Data card
- Legal status
- Abolitionist de facto
- Executions recorded in 2026
- 0
- Executions recorded in 2025
- 0
- First news item in the archive
- JANUARY 1, 1999 · According to a survey released in 1999 by Gallup Korea,...
- News items in the archive
- 254
Source: Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026.
South Korea is classified as Abolitionist de facto in the Hands Off Cain database, updated to 2026. In 2026 the association recorded 0 executions in the country, against 0 the year before. The archive holds 254 news items on South Korea, from 1999 to today.
Latest news
- OCTOBER 27, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
On September 25 the Chinese government executed a South...
On September 25 the Chinese government executed a South Korean, who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking, without any prior notice to the Korean government, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MOFAT) said
- OCTOBER 27, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
About 60 percent of Koreans favour retaining the death...
About 60 percent of Koreans favour retaining the death penalty according to a recent poll
- OCTOBER 26, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan demanded an end to the death...
Cardinal Kim Sou-hwan demanded an end to the death penalty during a visit to death row inmates at the Seoul Detention Center in Gyeonggi province
- OCTOBER 23, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
A Korean national has been awaiting execution in a...
A Korean national has been awaiting execution in a Chinese prison since 25 September after being convicted by China's highest court, sources said
- OCTOBER 5, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
The National Police Agency announced that it has decided...
The National Police Agency announced that it has decided to start an intensive campaign against organized crime
- OCTOBER 4, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
The ruling Millennium Democratic Party urged the government...
The ruling Millennium Democratic Party urged the government to take sterner measures against organized crime, Party Spokesman Chon Yong-hak said
- JUNE 12, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
A Chinese industrial trainee was sentenced to death...
A Chinese industrial trainee was sentenced to death by an appellate court in Seoul for two counts of murder and eight counts of robbery
- JUNE 7, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
A group of religious leaders met with the leaders of...
A group of religious leaders met with the leaders of political parties to seek their support for a campaign to abolish the death penalty
- MAY 16, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
A South Korean group of government, religious and business...
A South Korean group of government, religious and business leaders presented the UN High Commissioner for Refugees with a petition bearing 11 million signatures that seeks to improve the lot of North Koreans who say they fled their homeland to escape fami
- MAY 14, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
The Supreme Court imposed a death sentence on a 31-year-old...
The Supreme Court imposed a death sentence on a 31-year-old man convicted of murdering his lover and her husband in a plan to get insurance money
- APRIL 25, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
Republic of Korea voted against the resolution on the...
Republic of Korea voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 25, 2001 (2001/68)
- MARCH 20, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
North Korea has a long way to go before its human right...
North Korea has a long way to go before its human right standards are on par with the rest of the world, according to reports and analyses released by a South Korean government-funded research institute
- MARCH 19, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
The opposition Grand National Party (GNP) blasted the...
The opposition Grand National Party (GNP) blasted the government's "soft" North Korea policy, claiming that a North Korean defector was executed in public recently, after he had been abducted back to Pyongyang in October 2000
- JANUARY 29, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
Religious and civic groups calling for a ban on capital...
Religious and civic groups calling for a ban on capital punishment are receiving crucial support from politicians as a group of lawmakers are seeking to launch a legislation movement to ban the death penalty
- JANUARY 1, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
In 1996, the Constitutional Court ruled 7-2 that the...
In 1996, the Constitutional Court ruled 7-2 that the death penalty was constitutional
- JANUARY 1, 2001South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
Capital punishment is provided for 103 crimes, 19 crimes,...
Capital punishment is provided for 103 crimes, 19 crimes, such as murder and espionage, under the constitution and 84 crimes under the National Security Law and five other laws
- DECEMBER 20, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
A thesis attached to the Korean version of the U
A thesis attached to the Korean version of the U
- NOVEMBER 17, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
The Taejon District Court sentenced Lee Jong-kwon,...
The Taejon District Court sentenced Lee Jong-kwon, 36, to death for killing his two daughters and two nephews in order to receive life insurance money
- NOVEMBER 16, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
The Seoul High Court sentenced to death 23-year-old...
The Seoul High Court sentenced to death 23-year-old Hwang Ho-jin for having raped and killed three women
- AUGUST 24, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
The government was to pardon more than 30,000 convicts...
The government was to pardon more than 30,000 convicts in order to promote national reconciliation on the anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule
- AUGUST 12, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
A group of Catholic priests known as "Catholic Priests...
A group of Catholic priests known as "Catholic Priests for Justice," met with President Kim Dae-jung and pressed him to push for stronger reform
- AUGUST 9, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
Justice Ministry officials said that more than 40 prisoners...
Justice Ministry officials said that more than 40 prisoners on death row were to have their terms lightened to life sentences in honor of "National Liberation Day
- APRIL 26, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
South Korea voted against the resolution on the death...
South Korea voted against the resolution on the death penalty approved by the UN Commission on Human Rights on April 26 (no
- APRIL 8, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
The ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) demanded...
The ruling Millennium Democratic Party (MDP) demanded that opposition candidate, Jung In-bong, withdraw his parliamentary candidacy after they exposed personal records that indicated his involvement in a drug scandal in 1996
- MARCH 31, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
The death penalty is provided for in the Penal Code...
The death penalty is provided for in the Penal Code (1953) for political and ordinary crimes
- MARCH 7, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
President Kim Dae-jung said he was highly appreciative...
President Kim Dae-jung said he was highly appreciative of French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin for his role in saving his life when he was sentenced to death by a Korean military tribunal in 1980
- FEBRUARY 18, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
Seo Yoon Bum's five-year-old grandson was killed when...
Seo Yoon Bum's five-year-old grandson was killed when a car plowed through a group of pedestrians in Seoul in 1991
- FEBRUARY 18, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
A group of 92 South Korean legislators presented a...
A group of 92 South Korean legislators presented a bill to the National Assembly that called for capital punishment sentences to be abolished and be replaced with life terms in prison sentences
- FEBRUARY 18, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
According to a Gallup survey conducted in December,...
According to a Gallup survey conducted in December, 43% of South Koreans oppose the death penalty (50% were in favour), up from just 20% in 1994
- JANUARY 23, 2000South KoreaDEATH PENALTY
A South Korean student studying at the Australian National...
A South Korean student studying at the Australian National University was so frightened to find himself in the same class with fellow students from communist North Korea that he went to his embassy to ask permission to speak to them