중앙은행 독립성의 제고방안에 관한 연구 - 한국은행의 신뢰성 확보방안을 중심으로 -

Article 3 of the Bank of Korea Act stipulates that "The monetary and credit policies of the Bank of Korea shall be formulated neutrally and executed autonomously and the independence of the Bank of Korea shall be respected." This article represents typically independence of the Bank of Korea(hereinafter referred as "the Bank"). The core of central bank independence is that the bank performs its operations neutrally and autonomously according to the Central Banking Act without interference from the government, etc. The theoretical foundation of central bank independence is getting credibility of the monetary and credit policies of central bank by independence from the government and from financial markets. The constitutional foundation of central bank independence is principle of rule of law and principle of separation of the powers. Viewing from the point of constitutional democratic principle, independence of central bank has some problems, because central bankers are not elected by popular votes, resulting in relatively small democratic righteousness. So central banks need some complementary measures such as securing overtness and transparency in the conduct of their businesses and managements of their operations. Article 21(1) and 21(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Korea stipulate that "All citizens shall enjoy freedom of speech and the press, and freedom of assembly and association" and "Neither speech nor the press shall violate the honor or rights of other persons nor undermine public morals or social ethics. Should speech or the press violate the honor or rights of other persons, claims may be made for the damage resulting therefrom." Independence of central bank is an example of taking shape of constitutional principle of rule of law and principle of separation of the powers. Freedom of speech and the press has the function of indispensable prerequisite for constitutional democratic rule. So independence of central bank has close relation with freedom of speech and the press. If they are in conflict with each other, we can make use of interpretation method of harmonization of norms. In order to protect the Bank against the unlawful intervenes form the government and to relieve the Bank by the Constitutional Court Act, the Bank should be a constitutional institution. In order to get credibility from the people and from the press, etc., the Bank should perform preemptive monetary policy, intensify function of research and study, and communicate smoothly with the people and the press.