and it is difficult to discern such element, such element may be found
to a certain extent of objectivity through other 'subjective elements
that can be objectified' in relative terms of the 'activeness' of the
deed or the 'premeditatedness' thereof.
(B) Whether the statements
electoral campaign
of
the
President
constituted
1) Article 58(1) of the Public Officials Election Act makes it a
prerequisite for the electoral campaign 'whether or not a candidate can
be specified,' by adopting the standard of 'being elected' in defining
the concept of 'electoral campaign.' Therefore, the concept of electoral
campaign is premised upon that it should be an activity to have win
or lose a 'specific' or at least 'discernible' candidate. Although a
statement supporting a specific political party may satisfy the definition
of electoral campaign since an activity intended to obtain votes for a
specific political party inevitably means an activity intended to have
the candidate nominated by that party in a certain district, even in
such circumstances, a candidate intended to have win through such
statement must be discernible.
When the statements at issue in this case were made on February 18, 2004 and February 24, 2004, the party-endorsed candidates
had not yet been determined. Therefore, the statement supporting a
particular political party when the party-endorsed candidates were not
specified did not constitute an electoral campaign.
2) Also, whereas an activity requires a 'purposeful intent' to have
a certain candidate win or lose an election in order for such activity
to constitute an electoral campaign, there was no such purposeful intent
in the statements at issue in the instant case.
A) In order for an election to properly represent the political will
of the public, the voters should be able to make their decisions in a
free and open process to form their own opinions. At the same
time, the voters may make truly free decisions as voters only when
they are aware of which candidates advocate and intend to implement
the policies they support and are correctly informed of the candidates
and the policy directions among which they can choose. Therefore,
in terms of the public's right to know, it is required, as the election
approaches, to provide certain information that may form the basis
of the voters' decision or the information as to the parties and the
candidates, through various means such as press conferences.
Therefore, strictly including all of the statements at a press conference in the definition of the electoral campaign would excessively
limit the freedom of expression of a political figure. Especially, when
the current Public Officials Election Act permits electoral campaigns
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