Issue 10. Death Penalty 48. As the Government voted in favor of the moratorium on the use of death penalty for the first time at the 75th UN General Assembly in November 2020, it was expected to pave the way for the abolition of death penalty. However, in January 2021, the Ministry of Justice submitted to the Constitutional Court an opinion on a constitutional petition against death penalty, stating that the punishment was constitutional. That confirmed accordingly the Government had no intention to abolish capital punishment. Likewise, the Government has not accepted the recommendations on the abolishment of death penalty, made by a number of UN member States during the 4th cycle of Universal Period Review. 49. Korea has not executed a death sentence since 1997 and is classified as a de facto abolitionist country. As of July 2023, 59 death row inmates are detained.47 Whereas the main arguments in favor of death penalty are the effect of deterrence and prevention of crimes, no such effect has been verified at home or abroad. However, the Government insists that the maintenance or abolition of death penalty is a grave issue related to the fundamentals of the State’s penal power, which requires a comprehensive review of public opinion, capital punishment’s function as criminal policy, and others. 50. Proposed recommendation: The State party needs to give due consideration to the legal abolition of the death penalty by reflecting the Constitution and international human rights norms, as well as recommendations and concerns from the international community.48 Issue 11. Suicides 51. The suicide rate in Korea, especially among the elderly, is considerably high, compared to other countries.49 Considering this, it is imperative to boost suicide prevention systems and policies continuously, but there are currently mere 12 metropolitan suicide prevention centers and 42 municipal centers dedicated to suicide prevention in the field. Instead, mental health welfare centers are additionally implementing suicide prevention projects,50 and many limitations exist for delivering such projects in terms of organizational structure, human resources, working conditions, budget, etc. 52. With the amendment of the Act on the Prevention of Suicide and the Creation of Culture of Respect for Life in February 2022, the preemptive management of high-risk suicide groups has been reinforced. However, local suicide prevention centers employ an average of only 34 people, providing insufficient conditions for proper preemptive management. 53. The average number of annual death cases in the military was 81 in 2016-2021, with suicide accounting for 72 percent of the total, with an annual average of 58 cases.51 Suicides 12