hankyoreh

By Yi Yong-in, staff reporter

China has executed South Korean man for trafficking drugs, only one day after two South Koreans were executed for the same charge on Aug. 6.

The South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed on Aug. 7, “A South Korean citizen surnamed Jang, 56, was executed by Chinese authorities after Chinese People’s Court at Qingdao, Shandong Province indicted him for trafficking methamphetamine in China”.

Jang was caught by the Chinese law enforcement authorities in charge of drug trafficking with 11.9kg of methamphetamine in China in June 2009, and he was sentenced to death by Qingdao Intermediate People’s Court during its first trial in May 2012. The decision was then upheld by both Shandong Province High People‘s Court and the Supreme People’s Court.

The Chinese law enforcement authorities informed the South Korean consulate in Qingdao on Aug. 1 that Jang’s execution was scheduled to take place within this week, or possibly earlier.

A South Korean government official emphasized its efforts to prevent Jang’s execution by saying, “After Jang was sentenced to death, the government also made requests at various levels to have the death penalty waived on humanitarian grounds”. But, there are criticisms that the South Korean government’s measures were limited to conventional and passive responses, despite the death sentence being announced in advance.

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