Justice minister calls for execution facilities

CHEONGSONG, South Korea, March 16 (Yonhap) -- The justice minister on Tuesday
suggested building an execution room at an infamous prison where many of the
convicts of heinous crimes are jailed amid growing public anger over a child rape
case.
Lee Kwi-nam instructed Cheongsong Prison, located in northern Gyeongsang
Province, to consider adding an execution facility.
"This would be with the assumption that there will be actual executions," he said
during his visit there, but added the matter is being reviewed "with caution."
Lee's remark is the first made by a senior government official after a suspect
was arrested last week on charges of raping and killing a 13-year-old girl,
triggering a heated debate on carrying out capital punishment. South Korea's
courts hand down death sentences, but there has not been an execution since
1997.
In 2007, Amnesty International categorized South Korea as a country that has
"virtually abolished capital punishment."
Lee said the government plans to jail most of the country's hardened criminals at
Cheongsong Prison and relocate an existing vocational training center there out
of the facility.
He said the government could also revive a system scrapped in 2005 that keeps
convicts separated from society even after they serve their sentences.
brk@yna.co.kr
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