Ⅰ. Guaranteeing the Fundamental Human Freedoms: 2. Freedom of Expression C) Democracy and Freedom of Expression Free expression and the exchange of conscience and ideology is the most important factor of today’s democracy. Meaning, the freedom of expression is an indispensible prerequisite of democracy, and a country that does not guarantee freedom of expression is not considered a democratic country. Major international human rights organizations, including UNHRC, emphasizes the guarantee of freedom of expression stipulated in Article 19 of the ICCPR, and recommends the abolition of criminal penalty for contempt. Contempt that penalizes opinions and emotions, which cannot be verified, in itself is against the UN ICCPR. In Korean society today, asserting the decriminalization of contempt is not easy, as there are cases of suicides by entertainers and ordinary people due to malicious and contemptuous comments online. Contempt clearly has elements of invading another’s honor, even if they are opinions or an expression of emotions. Contemptuous expressions have the function of making public his/her own opinions for not having any other countermeasures after being damaged due to the governmental authority, money or social influence beyond his/her own. Therefore, even if such expressions may be vulgar, they correspond to the degree of his/her emotions, and restricting an excessive expression is similar to censoring people sharing their feelings.46) If fully abolishing contempt is difficult, then we must consider not overtly restricting the expression of opinions and emotions towards the president, politicians and high officials. 46) Cohen v. California, 403 US 15, 1971: the government cannot criminalize the display of profane words in public places 53