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A court has ruled that if dual citizens do not give up their Korean citizenship before the age of 18, they may not do so until after they complete their mandatory military service. It ruled that laws requiring dual citizens to choose their nationality before they turn 18, with the objective of protecting national security through conscription at a time of North-South confrontation, were constitutional.
Seoul High Court upheld Thursday a lower court ruling that a 23-year-old dual citizen who was born in the United States could not give up his Korean citizenship until he had completed his mandatory military service. The man had filed a lawsuit against the Justice Minister, demanding the ministry accept his application to give up his Korean citizenship.
In its decision, the court said Korea's nationality and conscription laws make it so that male dual citizens are eligible for conscription once they turn 18, and they may not give up their Korean citizenship until their military service has been fulfilled. It said that when one considers the public interest in guaranteeing the nation's security through conscription at a time of confrontation between the two Koreas, and the abuses that would follow should dual citizens be given the unlimited right to give up their citizenship, the relevant citizenship and conscription laws could not be considered unconstitutional.
The U.S.-born dual citizen in the case, who was born in September 1981, applied to give up his Korean citizenship with the Justice Ministry in March 2001, after he had turned 19. He launched his lawsuit, however, when the ministry refused to accept the application.
(Keum Won-seop, capedm@chosun.com )
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