Council of Europe - Venice Commission

KOREA - Public Offical Election Act

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Article 255

(Unlawful Election Campaign)

(1) Any of the following persons shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for not more than three years or by a fine not exceeding six
million won:

1. A person who conducts an election campaign in the intra-party competition, in contravention of Article 57-6 (1);

2. A person who carries out or makes another person carry out an election campaign, in contravention of Article 60 (1), or who becomes
or makes another person become an election campaign manager, in contravention of paragraph (2) of the same Article or Article 205 (4);

3. A person who establishes an election campaign organization, or carries out an election campaign after establishing such organization, in contravention of Article 61 (1);

4. A person who appoints an election campaign manager, chief of an election campaign liaison office, election campaign worker or assistant,
in contravention of Article 62 (1) through (4);

5. A person who conducts an election campaign by using a shoulder belt, hat, clothes, label, signalling flag, mascots, props or other marks, in
contravention of Article 68 (2) or (3) (referring to the size of a shoulder belt);

6. A person who conducts an election campaign speech or debate, in contravention of Article 80;

7. A person who holds an election campaign interview or debate meeting by inviting a candidate, in contravention of Article 81 (1);

8. A person who holds an election campaign interview or debate meeting, in contravention of Article 81 (7) (including cases where applied mutatis mutandis in Article 82 (4));

9. A person who commits, or aids and abets another person to commit, an act in contravention of Article 85 (2) or (3);

10. A person who commits acts, in contravention of Article 86 (1) 1 through 3, (2) or (5), or a person who commits acts in contravention of paragraph (6) of the same Article;

11. A person who conducts or makes others conduct election campaigns in contravention of Article 87 (1), or who establishes or forms private
organizations or other associations or causes others to do so, in contravention of paragraph (2) of the same Article;

12. A person who carries out an election campaign for another political party or candidate, in contravention of main sentence of Article 88;

13. A person who establishes or forms a similar organization, or uses existing institutions, associations, organizations, or facilities, in
contravention of the main sentence of Article 89 (1);

14. Deleted; <by Act No. 7189, Mar. 12, 2004>

15. A person who distributes, performs, plays, shows or posts, or causes another person do, any literary work, entertainment, drama, cinema or
photograph, in contravention of Article 92;

16. A person who commits an act of marching along the streets in a group, saluting, or shouting repeatedly, in contravention of Article 105 (1);

17. A person who makes a house-to-house canvass or causes another person to do so, in contravention of Article 106 (1) or (3);

18. A person who obtains or causes another person obtain any signature or seal impression, in contravention of Article 107;

19. A person who carries out or causes another person to carry out an election campaign using letters, telegrams, facsimile, telephone, or other
method of a telecommunication, in contravention of Article 109 (1) or (2) of the same Article, or who threatens or causes another person to
threaten, in contravention of paragraph (3) of the same Article;

20. A person who conducts an election campaign intended for overseas electors, in contravention of Article 218-14 (1), (6) or (7).

(2) Any person who falls under any of the following subparagraphs shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for not more than two years
or by a fine not exceeding four million won:

1. A person who prepares campaign materials of a preliminary candidate, in contravention of the latter part of Article 60-3 (1) 4;

1-2. A person who is not a preliminary candidate of a presidential election or of the election of the head of local government, but publishes and distributes campaign promise collections of preliminary candidate under Article 60-4 (1), who has publishes and distributes campaign promise collections of preliminary candidate of more than one kind in contravention of the same paragraph, who has not sold campaign promise collections of preliminary candidate by an ordinary method or has sold them by door-to-door sales method, or who has publishes and distributes campaign promise collections of preliminary candidate, in contravention of paragraph (2) of the same Article;

1-3. A person who prepares and uses, or makes another person prepare and use any campaign poster, any campaign bulletin or any written
campaign promise for election campaign, in contravention of Articles 64 (1) and (9), 65 (1) and (2), and 66 (1) through (5);

2. Deleted; <by Act No. 9974, Jan. 25, 2010>

3. A person who wages the competition campaign, in contravention of Article 57-3 (1);

4. A person who carries out or makes another person carry out an election campaign using any loudspeaker system or motor vehicle, in contravention of Article 91 (1) and (3), or 216 (1);

5. A person who distributes, pastes, scatters, posts, plays, any writing, book, picture or causes another person to do so, in contravention of
Article 93 (1), who makes or has another person make an advertisement or appearance, in contravention of paragraph (2) of the same Article, or who issues, distributes or demands any identification card, document or other printed materials, or makes another person do so, in contravention of paragraph (3);

6. A person who carries out or causes another person to carry out an election campaign using any recorder or video recorder, in
contravention of Article 100;

7. Deleted. <by Act No. 5127, Dec. 30, 1995>

8. A person who makes an advertisement or makes requests for putting an advertisement in noncompliance with a requirement to suspend an
advertisement referred to in Article 271-2 (1).

(3) Any person of the following persons shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for not more than five years:

1. A person who conducts a competition campaign, in contravention of Article 57-6 (2);

2. A person who conducts an election campaign, in contravention of Article 85 (2).

(4) Any person who transmits the election campaign information in contravention of Article 82-5 (1), who fails to specify facts relevant to the election campaign information in contravention of Article 82-5 (2) or makes a false representation in specifying such facts, who takes a technical measure in contravention of Article 82-5 (4), who charges expenses on a receiver in contravention of Article 82-5 (5), or who transmits the election campaign information in contravention of Article 82-5 (6) shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for not more than one year or by a fine not exceeding one million won.

(5) Any person who violates Article 85 (1) shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for not more than ten years or by a fine
of not less than ten million won nor more than 50 million won.