Ⅰ. Guaranteeing the Fundamental Human Freedoms: 2. Freedom of Expression 2. Freedom of Expression A. Human Rights Status 2021 Freedom of expression is indispensible for a person to maintain his/her dignity and value, pursue happiness and realize sovereignty, and it is universal and fundamental rights stipulated in the Constitution of Korea, the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Freedom of expression is one of the most important basic rights of people in a democratic society. Korea has the highest level of freedom of the press among Asian countries, placing 42nd among 180 countries surveyed by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF) in the 2021 World Press Freedom Index. was placed 42nd among the 180 countries. On the other hand, according to the Digital News Report, published annually since 2012 by the Reuter Institute, Korea’s trust in news34) ranked 39 out of 46 countries. Korea ranks low in the ‘trust in news’ section since 2016, when Korea was first included, and in 2021, the rank improved slightly, but still remains low. As the Korean society is experiencing rapid development in the communications technologies through the spread of various social media and Youtube, etc., and in the process, the assertions and opinions of diverse people can be obtained easier than ever. This is an ideal phenomena for the freedom of expression to materialize within the Korean society; however, unrefined or improper expressions that can harm society are also spreading faster than before. In the past, Korea’s discussion on freedom of expression was a conflict between a view requiring more restrictions for the national security, in consideration of the 34) ‘Trust in News’ asks “trust in news overall’ to the respondents on a 5-point scale, and calculates the ratio of people answering ‘Agree’ or ‘Strongly Agree.’ 39