The Report on Human Rights Situation in the Republic of Korea 3) Controversy on the Decriminalization of Contempt A) Controversy Began with an Investigation of a Leader of a Civil Organization A leader of a civil organization distributed leaflets that slandered the President in front of the National Assembly Building in Jul. 2019, and the leader appeared at the police station for investigation. This became known when the police forwarded the case to the prosecutors’ office in Apr. 2021, and the press and the politicians made critical comments to turn the case into a big issue.39) Contempt is a crime prosecutable only upon complaint and cannot be investigated unless a complaint filed by the party, and the charges cannot be established unless the President himself or a representative files a complaint. The spokesperson for the Blue House, at a daily briefing on May 4, 2021, stated that “the President Moon instructed to withdraw the contempt charges for the distribution of leaflets in 2019,” and “that it was a response to the harm to North-South relationship, people’s honor and national dignity, as the case was indiscriminately used by the Japanese right-wing magazines.” Furthermore, “we accept the comments that a president needs to endure insulting expressions, as a person managing the country as delegated by the people.” On the other hand, solder who used insulting expressions for the president was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment. The soldier posted malicious comments, twice, on articles related to the president in Jun. 2021. This was not the first time a soldier who slandered the president being punished, and the Constitution court upheld the constitutionality in 2016.40) The military court in August 2021 found a soldier not guilty for slandering the president in front of other soldiers. The court 39) Kyunghyang Shinmun, “’Anyone can criticize the President... Contempt charges should be dropped,‘ People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy (PSPD),‘ May 3, 2021 40) Constitutional Court, Feb. 25, 2016, Sentence 2013HunBa111 Decision 50