Meanwhile, in order to ensure an exchange of diverse thoughts and ideas as well as debate, an individual must have knowledge of facts as a precondition for the exchange and debate. Thus, a constitutional basis of the right to know also lies in Article 21, Section (1) of the Constitution. Promoting the right to know guarantees freedom of expression, and promoting freedom of expression guarantees the right to know. Because democracy cannot properly operate without individual’s and society’s free formation of popular opinion based on sufficient information, the right to know is also an essential component of democracy, along with freedom of expression. In sum, since freedom of expression, which guarantees an exchange of diverse thoughts and ideas and promotes the right to know of citizens, is a core fundamental right that is the foundation of our constitutional democracy, we note that in cases where restrictions on freedom of expression are inevitable for the protection of reputation, such restrictions should be imposed to the minimum extent possible. 2. The first sentence of Article 21, Section (4) of the Constitution states that “Neither the press nor any publication shall violate the honor or rights of other persons, or public morals or social ethics,” thereby declaring the “honor of other persons” as a limit to freedom of expression. However, the second sentence of Article 21, Section (4) of the Constitution prescribes that “Should the press or publication violate the honor or rights of other persons, the victims may claim compensation for the damage suffered,” thereby expressly providing as a remedy for defamation only civil compensation and not criminal punishment. For this reason, we do not believe that the Constitution obviously envisions criminal sanctions as a remedy for defamation, even though its Article 21, Section (4) specifies the violation of the honor of other persons as a limit to freedom of expression. The problem of criminally penalizing the expressive activity of publicly alleging facts is that the penalty is enforced by the State. An - 16 -