미국 헌법문서의 행복 및 안전에 관한 권리의 검토 - 우리 헌법상 행복추구권의 새로운 해석 가능성 -

Korean Constitution states in Article 10, "All citizens shall be assured of human worth and dignity and have the right to pursue happiness." The right to pursue happiness first appeared in 1776 Virginia Declaration of Rights in America and the one of Korean Constitution was derived from the language of constitutional documents of America such as Virginia Declaration of Rights and Declaration of Independence. The right to pursue happiness in Korean Constitution has been greatly controversial due to the ambiguity and abstractness of meaning of this right and a majority of constitutional law scholars asserts that this right be removed from the text of the Constitution through constitutional revision. The Korean Constitutional Court and scholars have understood the right to happiness as the right to personality and general right to freedom of conduct, but this understanding was actually borrowed from the general right to manifestation of personality in German Basic Law. This article examines a possibility of reappreciation of right to pursue happiness in Korean Constitution reflecting the right to happiness and safety in American constitutional document, in particular, state constitutions. Although Korean Constitutional Court has relied on the right to live a life worthy of human beings to find out whether the government action was adequate enough to provide for minimum subsistence to people, in order to have an effective and practical constitutional guarantee of the right to minimum subsistence, the right to happiness in Art. 10 as well as the right in Art. 34, Sec.1 of Korean Constitution should be considered as a fundamental right at stake.