MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) China has executed another South Korean citizen for trafficking drugs, just a day after two South Korean nationals underwent capital punishment on the same charges on August 6, Korea’s The Hankyoreh reports.
As the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, the execution of a Korean national Jang, 56, was carried out after Chinese People’s Court at Qingdao, Shandong Province, indicted him for trafficking 11.9kg of methamphetamine in China.
Since the Chinese government notified South Korea of the court's decision last month, Seoul had repeatedly requested for the death penalty to be waived on humanitarian grounds, South Korean officials told media. "We have passed on the request on various levels for humanitarian consideration after the conviction for execution was confirmed," South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Noh Kwang-il said in a statement. However, there was some criticism among the Korean public, with some calling the government’s responses "conventional and passive", The Hankyoreh wrote.
On August 6, China executed two South Koreans on the same charges, after the duo was convicted of smuggling 14.8 kilograms of methamphetamine and selling 12.3 kilograms of the drug to South Korean dealers, Yonhap agency reported.
This marked the first case of death penalty for a South Korean national since 2004, when a Korean was sentenced to death for murder.
Overall one British national, five Japanese, one Pakistani and five Filipinos have been executed for drug offenses since 2009, Yonhap stated citing an official.
China issues particularly harsh sentences for drug offenses, namely producing or trading more than 1 kilogram of opium or 50 grams of methamphetamine or heroin.
Until May, Chinese courts had sentenced 39,762 criminals for drug-related offences, depicting an increase of 27.38 percent over last year, China's Xinhua reported.
