The Report on Human Rights Situation in the Republic of Korea (2) the act of expressing these, not only have the tendency of causing harmful results to the state or the society in the future, but also must have a causal relationship with the actual harm that may occur. However, Article 7 of the [National Security Act] is still being criticized from this aspect. The requirement of “with the knowledge of the fact that it may endanger the existence and security of the state or democratic fundamental order,” prescribes matters related to the actor’s internal thoughts, and the standard for determining the internal thought is still unclear. There is a problem of determining the penalty for specific actions depending on how the investigative agencies or the courts evaluate the internal thoughts of the actors. Also, the provision is unclear and ambiguous in that the terms used to determine the applicability, such as ‘praise,’ ‘incite,’ ‘propagate,’ and ‘concert’ are abstract and vague. Moreover, there is the possibility of penalizing these acts, even if they cause no harm and do not provide any benefits to the antigovernment organizations. Therefore, we can only question ‘whether the scope of penalty under the article is limited to acts clearly endangering the existence and security of the State or democratic fundamental order.’ C) Actively Embracing the Principle of Clear and Current Danger The most important concept used in relation to regulations on the freedom of expression is ‘a clear and present danger’ by the US Supreme Court. This principle was established by Justice Oliver W. Holmes in Schenck v. United States, stating that act of expression cannot be restricted with the possibility of an abstract harm that may cause harmful result to society or a country in the future, but must be proven with a clear and present danger test. The importance of existence and the security of a state cannot be refuted in Korea, but for the act of expressing oneself, fully guaranteeing the freedom of expression according to the clear and present danger principle is necessary to realize the true value of democracy. 44