조선시대의 감옥, 사형, 그리고 사형장의 변화

Abstract

The Joseon dynasty modeled its penal policies and judicial system after traditional China’s severe penal codes. Examples of this are seen in the high rate of the use of the death penalty, the gradation of penalties, the detailed classification of execution methods, and the public execution of felons. Joseon dynasty’s capital punishment was divided into several grades. The lowest grade was execution by poisoning, followed by hanging and decapitation. The highest grade of execution was dismemberment. While poisoning and hanging were conducted behind closed doors, executions by decapitation and dismemberment were supposed to be open to the public. Execution by decapitation was divided into two types: temporal, designated to fall and winter periods, and non-temporal. Under the criminal codes, the Ministry of Punishment, the Police Bureau, and the Correctional Tribunal were in charge of temporal executions, while military authorities were in charge of the non-temporal executions under the articles of war. Capital punishment was classified by execution method. Poisoning, hanging, and temporal decapitation fell under the criminal codes, and non-temporal decapitation and dismemberment fell under the articles of war. Execution method was also divided between public and non-disclosure, as well as by designation of location for each execution method. The traditional executionsystem, however, underwent drastic changes after the 1894 Reform. Major changes included the simplification of the execution methods into hanging (under the criminal codes) and execution by firing squad (under the articles of war), and non-disclosure execution at prison. The execution system has changed drastically in modern Korea, to the extent that society is now making efforts to abolish capital punishment entirely.