The judgment of the court below is reversed.

The sentence of sentence against the defendant shall be suspended.

1. Summary of grounds for appeal;

A. The act of simply tearing the ballot paper without intent to impair the fairness of election or interfere with the execution of election affairs cannot be punished under Article 244(1) of the Public Official Election Act.

The defendant, without any intention to interfere with election affairs, has teared a paper for a fluorco voting for the purpose of guaranteeing the fairness of election, so the court below found the defendant guilty of the defendant's act is erroneous in the misapprehension of legal principles.

B. The punishment sentenced by the lower court (2.5 million won) is too unreasonable.

2. Determination

A. Article 244 of the Act on the Election of Public Officials as to the argument of misunderstanding of legal principles provides that “a person who conceals, damages, or seizes facilities, equipment, documents, seals, or electoral lists related to the election management and control affairs, such as ballot papers, ballot papers, voting aids, computer systems, etc., shall be punished by imprisonment with prison labor for not less than one year nor more than ten years, or by a fine not less than five million won but not more than 30 million won.”

“......”

The act of destroying or damaging documents related to election management, such as voting paper, referred to in the above provision refers to the act of destroying or damaging the utility according to the original purpose by exercising tangible power with awareness that it would infringe all or part of the utility of voting paper, etc., while recognizing that it is a ballot paper, the crime of the above provision is established, and the intent is to interfere with the election affairs of the above person.