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| Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, chairman of the ruling People Power Party, speaks during a meeting with lawmakers and police at the Korean National Police Agency's headquarters in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
By Lee Hae-rin
Lawmakers from both ruling and opposition parties seek to introduce life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for offenders of brutal crimes in response to a recent series of deadly random attacks.
"A series of random attacks with unknown motives targeting many random people have occurred and heightened public fear," Rep. Kim Gi-hyeon, chairman of the ruling People Power Party, said during a meeting with PPP lawmakers and members of the Korean National Police Agency's Major Crime Investigation Division at the agency's headquarters in Seoul, Monday.
Kim said the party plans to introduce life imprisonment without parole as a means to control serious criminals more effectively.
Korea's Criminal Act states that an inmate serving a life sentence is eligible to be released on parole after serving 20 years if they display model behavior.
A total of 105 people sentenced to life imprisonment were released on parole between 2012 and 2021, according to the Ministry of Justice's corrections statistics.
Opposition parties are calling for similar legislative moves to toughen sentences.
Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) proposed an amendment to the Criminal Act last month, a week after the stabbing rampage at Sillim Station, to allow life imprisonment without parole. Rep. Cho Jung-hun of the minor opposition Transition Korea also plans to propose a similar amendment this week.
The DPK, however, views other preventative measures should also be implemented besides strengthening punishment.
"It's impossible to prevent (random attacks) 100 percent by punishment alone," DPK floor leader Rep. Park Kwang-on said, Sunday, stressing the need for welfare policies that reinforce the social safety net and resolve polarization.
The National Assembly already has pending legislation of similar purpose, including amendments to the criminal law by Cho Kyoung-tae of the PPP and Rep. Yoo Jung-ju of the DPK, proposed in November 2020 and May 2021, respectively, which impose additional punishments on those who commit attacks of terrorism targeting many random people.
As Korea has been categorized as an abolitionist in practice as it has not executed a prisoner since 1997, such legislative movement reflects the calls for alternative punishments for brutal crimes.
In previous rulings, Korean courts called for legislation for life imprisonment without parole while sentencing offenders of serious crimes to life-long terms, saying this will protect people in a country that no longer practices capital punishment.
However, some criminal law experts express concerns over introducing life sentences without parole before abolishing the death penalty.
Kim Dae-keun, a senior researcher at the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice (KICJ), told The Korea Times, Tuesday, that introducing life imprisonment without parole to prevent brutal crimes like random attacks before abolishing the death penalty is irrational because studies show that the death penalty is ineffective or that its effectiveness as a crime deterrent cannot be proven.
"Life imprisonment without parole deprives the possibility of reforming a criminal by taking away the prospect of returning to society," Kim said, citing decisions by courts in European countries including Germany, Britain and Switzerland that ruled life imprisonment without parole deprives human dignity for such reasons.
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