Serial killer, who showed no remorse, why suddenly changed his attitude.

Recent reports suggest that the behavior of death row inmates has changed dramatically following the Ministry of Justice’s refurbishment of execution facilities and the reinstatement of the necessity of capital punishment.

According to the legal community on the 24th, the atmosphere at Seoul Detention Center, where convicted serial killers are housed, has significantly improved in terms of correctional officers’ rehabilitation activities. This change has been observed since the recent directive by Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon to “prepare the relevant facilities for execution at any time.”

Previously in August, Minister Han mentioned, “There have been criticisms that the execution facilities have been neglected like ruins for a long time due to non-execution of death sentences, and some death row inmates have been assaulting correctional officers and their behavior has been disorderly. As the government advocates for the retention of the death penalty, maintaining the facilities and making the behavior of death row inmates acceptable to the public is also a task of the Ministry of Justice.” Following this, inspections were carried out at national execution facilities (Seoul Detention Center, Busan Detention Center, Daejeon Prison) to check the proper functioning of execution devices and to replace any outdated parts.

Particularly after these remarks, it has been reported that the behavior of Yoo Young-chul (53), a serial killer who murdered 20 people, including female massage therapists, has significantly improved since his transfer to Seoul Detention Center in mid-September, compared to his time at Daegu Prison. Yoo Young-chul, who has been serving a death sentence since June 2005 for killing 20 people since 2003, is now in his 18th year of imprisonment. Throughout his sentence, Yoo Young-chul often showed non-compliance with control, stating, “I have nothing to lose as a death row inmate,” and threatened correctional officers by saying, “Don’t you know I’m a psycho?” There was no sign of remorse. Other death row inmates, such as Kang Ho-soon, who killed 10 women, are also reported to have become more docile than before.

Meanwhile, South Korea is classified as a de facto abolitionist country as it has not carried out any executions since December 1997 during the Kim Young-sam administration. The Constitutional Court is currently deliberating on the constitutionality of the death penalty.