A survey shows one out of three South Koreans supports the abolition of capital punishment.

The survey was conducted by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea on two thousand people, including lawmakers, legal experts and ordinary citizens.

34 percent of respondents said they were in favor of the abolition of capital punishment.

By occupation, 60 percent of lawmakers and 53 percent of judges supported the abolition of death penalty, but the corresponding proportions among prosecutors and prison guards were much lower at 16 and 11 percent, respectively.

51 percent of those surveyed remained undecided over whether the capital punishment is an effective deterrent of crime.

Nearly 90 percent of respondents answered that the taking of criminals' lives for their crimes does not help relieve the sufferings of their victims.