South Korea recorded progress in the promotion and...

South Korea recorded progress in the promotion and protection of human rights in 2002 but still detained citizens for their political beliefs, Amnesty International said. The London-based rights watchdog also said in its report on 2002 that capital punishment still remained on the statute books and more than 50 prisoners remained on death row despite a vote in the National Assembly to abolish the death penalty. Amnesty also said that South Korea's National Security Law was used to imprison people for their "non-violent political activities." "The ill-defined law that provides for long sentences or even the death penalty for 'anti-state' and 'espionage' activities, has been used "arbitrarily against people who have tried to exercise their basic rights to freedom of expression and association," Amnesty said.