Council of Europe - Venice Commission

KOREA - Public Offical Election Act

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Article 230

(Corrupt Practices and Inducement by Interest)

(1) Any person who falls under any of the following subparagraphs shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for not more than five years
or by a fine not exceeding 30 million won: <Amended by Act No. 5262, Jan. 13, 1997; Act No. 5412, Nov. 14, 1997; Act No. 6265, Feb. 16, 2000; Act
No. 7189, Mar. 12, 2004; Act No. 9466, Feb. 12, 2009; Act No. 9974, Jan. 25, 2010; Act No. 10981, Jul. 28, 2011; Act No. 11374, Feb. 29, 2012; Act No.
12267, Jan. 17, 2014; Act No. 12393, Feb. 13, 2014>

1. A person who offers, manifests an intention to offer, or promises to offer money, goods, transportation, banquet, other property interest, or a
position, public or private, to any elector (including an elector who is eligible to enter the electoral register or overseas electoral register, etc. before the preparation of the electoral register or overseas electoral register, etc.; hereafter the same shall apply in this CHAPTER), an election campaign manager, the chief of an election campaign liaison office, an election campaign worker, an accountant in charge, an election campaign speechmaker (including a speechmaker who gives a speech or interview under Article 79 (1) and (2), and the one who gives a speech or debates as provided in Articles 81 (1), 82 (1) or 82-2 (1) and (2); hereafter the same shall apply in this CHAPTER), a witness (referring to a voting witness, an advance polling witness, or a
ballot-counting witness; hereafter the same shall apply in this CHAPTER), a shipmaster, an observer of another political party or candidate (including a preliminary candidate), with intent to make another person cast his/her vote or not cast his/her vote, or making himself elected or making another person elected or not elected;

2. A person who offers, manifests an intention to offer, or promises to offer any property interest such as money and goods to a school and
other public institution, social group, religious group, labor organization, youth organization, women's organization, association for the aged,
veterans association, or clan association, or other institutions, organizations or facilities, with the intention of utilizing them for an election campaign;

3. A person who offers, manifests an intention to offer, or promises to offer money, goods, drink, food, or other economic interest to a picnic group, alumni meeting, social gathering, native folks society, fraternity group, or other meeting or event of electors, with the intention of utilizing them for an election campaign;

4. A person who offers, manifests an intention to offer, or promises to offer money, goods, or other benefits in connection with the election campaign regardless of the pretext such as allowance and actual expenses, other compensation for volunteers, in contravention of Article
135 (3);

5. A person who solicits another person to publish a text message, voice message, image, or video clip through a bulletin board or chatting room of an Internet homepage with intent to influence an election or to transmit an e-mail or text message, except as otherwise provided for in this Act, and gives, expresses his/her intention to give, or promises to give money, goods, or other benefit as a price therefor;

6. A person who receives, or accepts to receive, any benefit or job provided as referred to in any provision of subparagraphs 1 through 5 (excluding a person who falls under Article 261 (9) 2).

(2) If a political party, a candidate (including a candidate who intends to be a candidate) or his/her family member, an election campaign manager, the chief of an election campaign liaison office, an election campaign worker, an accountant in charge, an election campaign speechmaker, or a company having a relation with a candidate or his/her family member as provided in Article 114 (2) commits any violation provided in the subparagraphs of paragraph (1), he/she shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for not more than seven years or by a fine not exceeding 50 million won.

(3) Any person who instructs, solicits, demands, or mediates any act provided in any of subparagraphs of paragraph (1) or (2) shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for not more than seven years or by a fine not exceeding 50 million won.

(4) Any person who carries money in a manner that it may be ready to be distributed to many electors during the election campaign period, such as
packed gifts and enveloped money, with the intention of making himself elected, or making another person elected or not elected shall be punished
by imprisonment with prison labor for not more than five years or by a fine of 30 million won.

(5) If a member or employee of an election commission (including an official in charge of voting management or an official in charge of advance
polling management; the same shall apply hereafter in this CHAPTER) or a public official involved in election affairs (including a shipmaster) or a
police officer (including a judicial police officer and a military judicial police officer) commits, or aids and abets a person to commit, an act
specified in any subparagraph of paragraph (1) or paragraph (2), he/she shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for not more than
seven years.

(6) Any person who violates Article 47-2 (1) or (2) shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for not more than five years or by a fine
of not less than five million won nor more than 30 million won.

(7) Any person who falls under any of the following subparagraphs in connection with an intra-party competition shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for not more than three years or by a fine of not exceeding ten million won:

1. A person who violates the provisions of Article 57-5 (1) or (2);
2. A person who offers, expresses his/her intention of offering or promises to offer money, goods, entertainment, property interest or public and
private post to any competitor, any person involved in the competitioncampaign, any competition elector or any witness for the purpose of
causing him/her to be elected as a candidate, having any person elected as a candidate or preventing any person from being elected as a candidate or causing any competition elector (referring to the person who is listed on the roll of electors for the intra-party competition) to vote for him/her or preventing any competition elector from voting for any other person;

3. A person who accepts or expresses his/her intention to accept the offering of the interest and the post referred to in Article 57-5 (1) or (2).

(8) Any person who instructs, solicits, demands or mediates an act under paragraph (7) 2 or 3 or any person who violates the provisions of Article
57-5 (3) shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for not more than five years or by a fine not exceeding 30 million won.