expressed his support for a particular political party in the course of performing the President's official duties and further directly appealed to the public for the support of that particular political party. Therefore, the president's statements toward the entire public at press conferences in support of a particular political party made by taking advantage of the political significance and influence of the office of the President, when political neutrality of public officials is required more than ever before as general elections approach, were in violation of the neutrality obligation concerning elections as acts unjustly influencing the elections and thereby affecting the outcome of the elections by taking advantage of the status of the President. 8. 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 defining the concept of 'electoral campaign' adopting the standard of 'being elected.' 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 statements in support of a particular political party when the party-endorsed candidates were not yet specified did not constitute an electoral campaign. Furthermore, considering that the president's statements at issue herein were neither actively made nor premeditated as such statements were made in the form of the President's response to questions posed by the reporters at press conferences, neither was there an active or premeditated element to be found in the President's statements, nor, as a result, a purposeful intention sufficient to find the nature of a political campaign. Therefore, the respondent's statements cannot be deemed as active and intended electoral campaign activities committed with an intention to have a particular candidate or certain identifiable candidates win or lose the election. 9. The 'obligation to abide by and protect the Constitution' of the President set forth in Articles 66(2) and 69 of the Constitution is the constitutional manifestation that specifies the constitutional principle of government by the rule of law in relation to the President's performance of official duties. While the 'obligation to abide by and protect the Constitution' is a norm derived from the principle of government by the rule of law, the Constitution repeatedly emphasizes such obligation of the President in Articles 66(2) and 69, considering the significance of the status of the President as the head of the state and the chief of the executive branch. Under the spirit of the Constitution as such, the President is the 'symbolic existence personifying the rule of law and the observance of law' toward the entire public. - 145 -