Serial killer Yoo Young-chul is seen in this file photo. Joint Press Corps
A death row inmate serving time in prison for the serial killings of 21 people has recently been transferred to a detention center in Seoul equipped with execution facilities, judicial officials said Monday.
Yoo Young-chul, one of the most notorious serial killers in the country, was relocated from a prison in the southeastern city of Daegu to the Seoul Detention Center last week, according to the Ministry of Justice. They also transferred Jung Hyung-gu, another inmate sentenced to death for killing newlyweds with a shotgun for overtaking his car on an unpaved road, to the center.
The recent move to the detention center in Uiwang, south of Seoul, which is known to be the only facility with a serviceable execution chamber, has raised speculation that the relocations could be a prelude to Korea carrying out executions for the first time since 1997.
Other serial killers, including Kang Ho-sun, who was sentenced to death for slaying 10 women, including his wife and mother-in-law, are also imprisoned there.
A ministry official said the transfer was a "necessary measure for correctional administration."
The detention center in Daegu is scheduled to move to a different location by the end of the year.
Korea is categorized as a death penalty abolitionist in practice globally, having carried out no executions since the last one in December 1997. (Yonhap)
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