Lee Jun-yeong, one of 29 artists featured in "Invitation...

Lee Jun-yeong, one of 29 artists featured in "Invitation to Life" at Insa-dong's Hakojae Gallery, described herself as "oriented toward inner revolution" rather than political activism. Yet her work has become part of the movement to abolish capital punishment in Korea, a topic that drew hundreds to a recent forum at the National Assembly in Yeouido.
The forum was attended by prominent death penalty opponents from around the world, with a special focus on Asia. The art exhibition was a fund raiser for the anti-death penalty campaign.
"I strongly reject the death penalty and all human rights violations," said Lee, a graduate of Hongik University whose work has appeared in numerous exhibitions. She believes the death penalty is "misused for political revenge," and that innocent people can become its targets.
The anti-death penalty forum was addressed by speakers from Japan, Thailand, Switzerland, Taiwan, the Philippines and elsewhere, and included religious leaders and representatives of Amnesty International's foreign chapters.
The speakers noted a worldwide trend favouring the abolition of the death penalty, and pointed out that most of the world's executions now take place in the United States and Asia - though none have taken place in Korea since the inauguration in 1998 of President Kim Dae-jung, who was at one time a death-row prisoner.
Park Yong-bum, a longtime peace activist and professor of metallurgy at Sunchon National University, contributed to the event with a musical performance with the Gong-Myoung Percussion Ensemble.
Park said, "I predict that the death penalty will be replaced with other forms of punishment, such as life imprisonment, when our people have greater reverence for life. I predict that this will happen in the near future."
"I think the campaign to abolish the death penalty is a matter that is not only rational but also emotional. The fact that we could have such an impressive and artistic event, along with plenty of facts and appeals in speeches, was a great experience," said Go Myeong-geun, who presented a startling, glass-encased sculpture of a woman presumably facing execution.