In the early 1970s, Yu In-tae, now a South Korean lawmaker, was sentenced to death, along with several other students for fighting against the dictatorial government of then president Park Chung-hee. Later, he was pardoned, but his colleagues were executed.
Now a member of the ruling Uri Party, Mr Yu cannot forget the injustice. That is why he plans to submit a new bill to ban capital punishment, believing that a life sentence without parole can be just as effective.
The plan is causing a major debate within society. Proponents of the bill maintain that human life is so precious that no one should be able to take it away. Opponents argue that capital punishment is necessary to prevent inhumane crimes. The revelation last month that a man in his 30s has killed at least 20 innocent rich people out of hatred for society has furthered the belief of those who want to keep the death penalty.
As South Korea undergoes rapid modernisation and urbanisation, social conflicts rise, resulting in an increase in the crime rate. Some crimes are so horrible that only capital punishment can act as a deterrent to others, claim advocates of the death penalty.
But there is a group of people which fundamentally disagrees. President Roh Moo-hyun, a former human rights lawyer who fought against dictatorial regimes, pledged during his election campaign in 2002 to remove the death penalty. He also vowed to consider pardoning nearly 60 death-row prisoners.
More recently, a group of religious leaders representing the Protestant, Catholic and Buddhist faiths visited Mr Roh to call for the death penalty to be abolished.
