Constitutional Court Rules "Ban on Election Campaigning by Local Government Heads is Constitutional"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The Constitutional Court has ruled that the legal provision penalizing local government heads for campaigning for candidates of specific political parties does not violate the Constitution.

On the 26th, the Constitutional Court unanimously upheld the constitutionality of the provision banning local government heads from electioneering (former Public Official Election Act Article 60, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 4) in a constitutional complaint filed by former Jeongeup Mayor Kim Saeng-gi of Jeonbuk, who lost his position after being fined for violating the Public Official Election Act.

The court stated, "The provision aims to ensure the dedication of local government heads to their duties, the political neutrality of local government heads and public officials belonging to the local government, and the fairness of elections," adding, "Considering the special status and position as servants to the entire nation, it is possible to impose stricter restrictions on fundamental rights for public officials than for ordinary citizens."

The court also ruled, "If local government heads were freely allowed to campaign, it would be difficult to expect political neutrality in elections from public officials belonging to the local government who are inevitably influenced by the local government heads," and "there is a high risk of undermining the fairness of elections."

Former Mayor Kim was indicted for attending a mountain climbing event organized by local voters in Jeongeup in March 2016, a month before the April 13 general election, and urging support for Ha Jeong-yeol, then a Democratic Party candidate running in the Jeongeup-Gochang electoral district.

The first and second trials sentenced him to a fine of 2 million won, stating, "The local government head violated the duty of election neutrality and campaigned for a specific party candidate, damaging the fairness and equity of the election."

While the case was pending at the Supreme Court, Kim requested a constitutional review. However, in December 2017, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling and dismissed the constitutional review request. Subsequently, Kim filed a constitutional complaint in January of the following year.