After interviewing 42 death row inmates, researcher believes capital punishment should end

Kim Dae-keun interviewed 42 death row inmates in Korea and now believes capital punishment should be abolished. No one has been executed since Dec. 30, 1997, but 56 people remain on death row. Kim said the inmates’ behavior has become more stable as they hope for parole, while uncertainty, fractured families and prolonged isolation continue to shape their lives.

Fifty-two death row inmates are held in Ministry of Justice correctional facilities and four are held in military prisons.

Before 1997, most death row prisoners were executed within six months to three years of their final ruling.

Kim said disciplinary cases declined sharply after inmates began believing that good behavior could improve their chances of parole.

Nearly all marriages between death row inmates and their spouses end in divorce.

Roughly four out of five inmates interviewed by Kim came from difficult family backgrounds involving childhood abuse or other hardships.

Published Oct 10, 2026 7:00 am KST

Death row leaves convicts' lives in limbo, agonizing over an existence neither ended nor lived

Kim Dae-keun, a research fellow at the Korea Institute of Criminology and Justice, poses during an interview with The Korea Times in Seocho District, Seoul, Sept. 3. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Every weekday before 1997, death row inmates in Korea braced themselves between 6 and 9 a.m. — the hours when executions could happen. If 9 a.m. passed uneventfully, they felt relief. Then they went to sleep wondering if the next morning would be their last.

No one has been executed since Dec. 30, 1997, but 56 people remain on death row — 52 in Ministry of Justice correctional facilities and four in military prisons. Kim Dae-keun, a research fellow at the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice, interviewed 42 of them.

"Most of them were ashamed, distressed or regretful about what they did," Kim said in an interview with The Korea Times. "I imagine they were brutal and frightening when they committed their crimes. But many I met in prison now were older, frail men."

Oct. 10 marks World Day Against the Death Penalty, an annual international observance calling for the abolition of executions as judicial punishment. In Korea, the day arrives with the death penalty still on the books but widely regarded as unenforceable. Most inmates now believe executions will not resume — a belief that has fundamentally reshaped how they live.

Before 1997, most death row prisoners were executed within six months to three years of their final ruling. The constant uncertainty made many act recklessly in prison.

Now, with no execution carried out in nearly three decades, that calculus has changed. Disciplinary cases dropped sharply once inmates recognized that even a slim chance at parole depends on good behavior, Kim said.

"In the past, death row inmates never knew when they would be executed, which left their days uncertain and gave them no reason to make long-term plans. Now they think about building a life inside prison, such as studying for a high school equivalency exam or saving money for their families outside."

Hope for parole can turn to fear when a conservative government — often more favorable to the death penalty — takes office. Many inmates feared they could actually be executed during moments such as the 2024 martial law declaration.

Even under that ever-present fear of death, the will to live persists.

Nearly all of them hope to experience life outside prison again before they die. That hope fades for some over time, but lingers for most. It helps them lead a stable life behind bars, and it also serves the state's interest in managing them.

"Quite a few said things like, 'I'd rather die than keep living this meaningless life.' But that doesn't mean they wanted to die right away. Those are two different attitudes," Kim said, adding that many inmates seemed to agonize over the meaninglessness of a life spent neither executed nor returned to society.

Becoming a death row inmate tends to reshape family relationships: Parents often stay until the end, wives typically leave and ties with children can grow complicated.

Of all family bonds, the one with parents tends to run deepest. Many parents pass away while the convicts are behind bars. Losing contact with them brings deep fear and news of a parent's death often leaves inmates overcome with grief, Kim said.

Relationships with children vary. Some know their father is on death row, while others do not. Some inmates are torn over whether to reveal their sentence to a child's partner when the child hopes to marry.

Nearly all marriages between death row convicts and their spouses end in divorce.

After meeting with the 42 inmates, Kim's belief that the death penalty should be abolished has deepened. He says the punishment has little to no deterrent effect on crime.

"When I asked inmates whether they knew the death penalty existed and whether that affected their actions, most said they knew but committed the crime anyway. Others said they simply don't remember because they were under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time."

The single biggest deterrent to crime, Kim said, is the likelihood of getting caught. When he asked inmates what scared them most at the time of their crime, most said they feared arrest.

"When a brutal crime occurs and the public grows fearful, executing or appearing ready to execute someone has no effect on preventing crime."

Kim agreed that executions will likely remain impossible in Korea, citing international treaties and the government's reluctance to resume them.

"Take extradition treaties, for example. Some countries wouldn't accept them if we resumed executions. It could also strain ties with European countries that have abolished the death penalty. And what government today would be willing to carry that burden? I don't think there is one."

Neither good nor evil

His time with the inmates also led Kim to reflect on a more fundamental question: Are humans inherently good, inherently evil, or a blank slate shaped by their environment? He said the truth is probably some combination of all three.

"Some are deeply good from the start, while others are selfish, violent and lack empathy. Most people learn, through education and social life, to hide or suppress those traits for their own benefit. That can change when someone has no money, is threatened or has something to gain."

Circumstances were harsh for most of the inmates Kim met. Roughly four out of five, he said, came from difficult family backgrounds, marked by childhood abuse or other hardships.

"In criminology, there's a hypothesis that many people simply never had the opportunity to commit a crime. Some inmates I met made me wonder whether they would have committed a crime at all if they had grown up in a stable home, received a proper education and never faced a desperate situation."

Several offenders Kim met turned to crime during the 1997 Asian financial crisis, robbing or murdering after losing their jobs. "It's not easy to say all of them are simply evil incarnate."

To Kim, death row inmates are far more complex than that: "A few Protestants and Catholics among them said they could repent, be saved and go to heaven. But most said, 'How could someone like me possibly go to heaven?' They said they pray for their victims instead."

金大根采访了韩国42名死刑犯，现在他认为应该废除死刑。自1997年12月30日以来，韩国没有执行过死刑，但仍有56人被判处死刑。金大根表示，随着囚犯们期盼获得假释，他们的行为变得更加稳定，但不确定性、破碎的家庭和长期的隔离仍然影响着他们的生活。

52名死刑犯被关押在司法部惩教机构，4名死刑犯被关押在军事监狱。

1997 年以前，大多数死刑犯在最终判决后的六个月到三年内被执行死刑。

金表示，自从囚犯们开始相信良好的行为可以提高他们获得假释的机会后，违纪案件数量急剧下降。

几乎所有死刑犯与其配偶的婚姻都以离婚告终。

金采访的囚犯中，大约五分之四来自困难的家庭背景，童年时期遭受过虐待或其他苦难。

发布于2026年10月10日 上午7:00（韩国标准时间）

死刑犯的人生陷入进退两难的境地，他们饱受煎熬，仿佛人生既未结束也未真正开始。

9月3日，韩国犯罪学与司法研究所研究员金大根在首尔瑞草区接受《韩国时报》采访时摆姿势拍照。（《韩国时报》沈贤哲摄）

在1997年之前的每个工作日，韩国的死刑犯都会在早上6点到9点之间忐忑不安——这段时间是行刑的时段。如果9点平安无事地过去，他们会感到一丝宽慰。然后，他们带着忐忑不安的心情入睡，不知道第二天早上会不会是他们的最后一天。

自1997年12月30日以来，韩国未执行过任何死刑，但仍有56人被判处死刑——其中52人被关押在司法部下属的惩教机构，4人被关押在军事监狱。韩国犯罪学与司法研究所的研究员金大根采访了其中的42人。

金在接受《韩国时报》采访时说：“他们中的大多数人对自己的所作所为感到羞愧、痛苦或后悔。我猜想他们作案时一定残暴可怕。但我现在在监狱里遇到的许多人都是年老体弱的男人。”

10月10日是世界反对死刑日，这是一个呼吁废除死刑作为司法惩罚的年度国际纪念日。在韩国，这一天到来之际，死刑仍然保留在法律条文中，但普遍认为无法执行。大多数囚犯现在相信死刑不会恢复执行——这种信念从根本上改变了他们的生活。

1997年以前，大多数死刑犯在最终判决后的六个月到三年内被执行死刑。这种持续的不确定性导致许多人在狱中行为鲁莽。

如今，由于近三十年来未执行过死刑，这种考量已经改变。金说，一旦囚犯们意识到，即使是微弱的假释机会也取决于良好的行为，违纪案件的数量就急剧下降了。

“过去，死刑犯不知道自己何时会被执行死刑，这让他们的生活充满不确定性，也让他们没有理由制定长远计划。现在，他们会考虑在狱中建立生活，例如准备高中同等学历考试或为狱外的家人攒钱。”

当一个保守派政府——通常更倾向于死刑——上台执政时，假释的希望可能会变成恐惧。许多囚犯担心，在诸如2024年宣布戒严令之类的时期，他们真的会被处决。

即使在对死亡的恐惧始终存在的情况下，求生的意志依然存在。

几乎所有人都希望在有生之年能再次体验监狱外的生活。随着时间的推移，有些人的这种希望会逐渐消逝，但大多数人的希望却始终存在。这有助于他们在狱中过上稳定的生活，也符合国家对他们进行有效管理的利益。

“不少人说过这样的话：‘我宁愿死也不愿继续过这种毫无意义的生活。’但这并不意味着他们想立刻死去。这是两种不同的态度，”金说道，并补充说，许多囚犯似乎都在为这种既未被处决也未重返社会的毫无意义的人生而痛苦不堪。

成为死刑犯往往会重塑家庭关​​系：父母通常会陪伴到最后，妻子通常会离开，与子女的关系可能会变得复杂。

在所有家庭关系中，与父母的关系往往最为深厚。许多服刑人员在狱中服刑期间父母去世。金说，与父母失去联系会带来深深的恐惧，而父母去世的消息往往会让服刑人员悲痛欲绝。

与子女的关系各不相同。有些孩子知道父亲被判死刑，有些则不知道。有些服刑人员在是否要将自己的刑期告知即将结婚的子女的伴侣时，内心十分纠结。

几乎所有死刑犯与其配偶的婚姻都以离婚告终。

与42名囚犯会面后，金更加坚信应该废除死刑。他认为死刑对犯罪几乎没有威慑作用。

“当我问囚犯们是否知道死刑的存在，以及这是否影响了他们的行为时，大多数人表示他们知道，但仍然犯罪。其他人则表示，他们只是记不起来了，因为当时他们受到了酒精或毒品的影响。”

金说，对犯罪最大的威慑力就是被抓获的可能性。当他询问狱友们犯罪时最害怕的是什么时，大多数人表示他们害怕被捕。

“当发生残忍的犯罪事件，公众感到恐惧时，处决或摆出准备处决某人的姿态并不能起到预防犯罪的作用。”

金也认为，鉴于国际条约和政府不愿恢复死刑，在韩国执行死刑可能仍然不可能。

“以引渡条约为例。如果我们恢复死刑，一些国家将不会接受这些条约。这也可能使与已经废除死刑的欧洲国家的关系紧张。如今哪个政府愿意承担这样的负担？我认为没有。”

既非善也非恶

与囚犯们相处的这段时间也让金思考了一个更根本的问题：人类的本性是善、恶，还是一张白纸，由环境塑造？他说，真相或许是这三者的某种结合。

“有些人天生善良，而有些人则自私、暴力、缺乏同理心。大多数人通过教育和社会生活，学会了为了自己的利益而隐藏或压抑这些特质。但当一个人身无分文、受到威胁或有利益可图时，情况就可能发生改变。”

金遇到的大多数囚犯都处境艰难。他说，大约五分之四的囚犯来自困境家庭，童年时期遭受过虐待或其他苦难。

“在犯罪学中，有一种假设认为，许多人根本没有机会犯罪。我遇到的一些囚犯让我不禁思考，如果他们成长在一个稳定的家庭，接受过良好的教育，从未面临过绝境，他们是否还会犯罪。”

金在1997年亚洲金融危机期间结识了一些罪犯，他们失业后走上了犯罪道路，从事抢劫或杀人等犯罪活动。“很难说他们都是邪恶的化身。”

在金看来，死刑犯的情况远比这复杂得多：“他们当中有一些新教徒和天主教徒说他们可以忏悔，得救并上天堂。但大多数人说，‘像我这样的人怎么可能上天堂呢？’他们说，他们只能为受害者祈祷。”