"Expressing Opinions Means Election Law Violation?" 'Except for the Democratic Party' Column Controversy

A column by Im Miri, Research Professor at Korea University Institute of Korean History, contributed to Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 29th of last month. / Photo by Kyunghyang Shinmun

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Yeon-ju] As the general election approaches, a controversy has arisen over a column titled "Everyone Except the Democratic Party," written by a current professor and submitted to a media outlet. The debate is sharply divided between the stance of "freedom of expression" and the position of "violation of election law."

On the morning of the 18th, lawyers Baek Seong-mun and Jo Su-jin appeared on CBS Radio's "Kim Hyun-jung's News Show" segment "Radio Court." The discussion focused on whether the column "Everyone Except the Democratic Party," written by Professor Im Mi-ri of Korea University’s Korean History Research Institute and published in Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 29th of last month, violated election law.

Lawyer Baek argued, "If that column is considered a violation of election law, then everything published in newspapers and discussed by the public would be a violation. The moment someone expresses support or opposition to a party, it would all be election law violations, so it is difficult to see this as a violation. It falls within the realm of freedom of expression."

On the other hand, lawyer Jo countered, "It is a violation of election law. While I fully support Professor Im's right to freedom of speech, from a legal perspective, unfortunately, it is interpreted as a violation of election law."

She added, "The Public Official Election Act distinguishes between election campaigning and non-campaigning activities and sets a period during which election campaigning is allowed. Outside of this period, no one is allowed to conduct election campaigning. The Democratic Party's accusation is based on the prohibition of pre-election campaigning, arguing that writing a column encouraging voting 'everyone except the Democratic Party' constitutes pre-election campaigning."

According to lawyer Jo, the election campaign period for the 21st general election is from April 2 to April 14. Therefore, she views Professor Im's column as violating the Public Official Election Act.

In response, lawyer Baek said, "Professor Im merely wrote a critical piece about the Democratic Party and the government. If such content is included within the scope of election campaigning, the scope of election campaigning would expand infinitely. The National Election Commission (NEC) is known to not consider columns or articles published in the media as election campaigning even if there is some possibility of campaigning."

Lawyer Jo said, "Many people on social networking services (SNS) have said that 'individuals are often punished for what they say, but it is unfair that the media is not punished for the same.' During the 20th general election, students campaigned with the slogan 'everyone except Saenuri Party,' and the Supreme Court ruled it innocent because it occurred during the election campaign period."

She explained, "Campaigns that encourage voting for or against a particular party are considered election campaigning, and if they are not conducted according to the methods prescribed by election law, they constitute a violation. Saying 'except this party' is different."

Lee Hae-chan, Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Yonhap News

In response, lawyer Baek said, "They keep focusing on that one phrase, but I think the overall intent of the column should be considered. Election law defines election campaigning as actions intended to cause a specific candidate to lose. Simple expressions of opinion are allowed, and Professor Im's column is a simple expression of opinion. It criticizes certain faults of the Democratic Party. We need to consider whether adding that one line at the end constitutes election campaigning."

However, lawyer Jo countered, "Expressing opinions about a specific party can also constitute a violation of election law. If Professor Im had posted this on her personal SNS, it would not have been an issue. The Public Official Election Act requires fair reporting from the media."

She added, "However, freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution is higher than election law. Because election law restricts freedom of expression significantly despite the constitutional guarantee, this kind of situation has arisen. I think this incident should prompt discussions on revising election law, which would be productive."

Lawyer Baek also said, "It is desirable to amend the Public Official Election Act to more broadly recognize the freedom of expression guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution. The act of filing a complaint by the Democratic Party can only be seen as restricting freedom of the press, so the complaint was very inappropriate."

Earlier, Professor Im submitted a column titled "Everyone Except the Democratic Party" to Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 29th of last month. The Democratic Party filed a complaint on the 5th, claiming the column constituted pre-election campaigning and encouraging voting participation, thus violating election law. After strong public criticism of the complaint, the Democratic Party withdrew it on the 14th.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.