SOUTH KOREA: CRIMINAL LAW PROFESSORS DENOUNCE DEATH PENALTY

a total of 132 criminal law professors in South Korea, including Professor Han In-
seop of Seoul National University, issued a joint statement in opposition to the government enforcing capital punishment after 11 years with no executions. “The move runs counter to a global trend in which countries are abolishing the death penalty, and it will make us a backward country when it comes to human rights,” the statement said. “The death penalty issue gauges a country’s level of human rights and social justice,” the statement said. “Having such a large number of criminal law professors who study the death penalty issue a joint statement on the subject is unprecedented,” Han said.