A South Korean man lost his nationality after obtaining U.S. citizenship and subsequently applied to the Ministry of Justice to have his South Korean nationality restored. The Ministry of Justice denied the application, as it determined that the man, who had not completed military service, had applied for nationality restoration at age 36, after his obligation to enlist in the military had ended, to avoid military service. However, the first instance court ruled that it was difficult to conclude that there was an intention to evade military service and ordered the Ministry of Justice to cancel its denial.
On the 7th, according to the legal community, the Seoul Administrative Court's 12th Division (Director General Kang Jae-won) ruled in favor of a man in his 30s, known as A, in a lawsuit against the Minister of Justice regarding the cancellation of the nationality restoration denial.
A entered high school in the United States in 2002 when he was 16 years old. He later received government permission for overseas travel and traveled back and forth between South Korea and the United States until the end of 2023. A spent between 210 days and 264 days in South Korea each year.
A reached the age when he was supposed to enlist in the military but did not. A obtained U.S. citizenship in 2022 at age 36 while still unfulfilled in military service. According to Article 15 of the Nationality Act, acquiring foreign nationality results in the loss of South Korean nationality.
Subsequently, A submitted an application for nationality restoration to the Ministry of Justice. A stated to the Ministry, "I obtained U.S. citizenship to alleviate the inconvenience of being subject to secondary entry inspection every time I enter the United States." He also noted that, "If I restore my nationality, I will fulfill my military duty as a specialized researcher at a national research institute or as a social service worker in major government agencies."
However, the Ministry of Justice did not permit the restoration, arguing that A obtained U.S. citizenship to evade military service. A subsequently filed a lawsuit requesting the cancellation of the denial of nationality restoration.
The court determined that it was difficult to conclude that A had an intention to evade military service, siding with A. The court commented that while A's long-term stay in the country during the period of overseas travel authorization raises doubts about his intention to fulfill his military duty, it is nevertheless difficult to objectively prove that there was an intention to evade military service.
The court instead focused on the fact that A included a plan for fulfilling military service in his nationality restoration application. The court stated that, "If A had received approval for nationality restoration, it raises some questions about whether fulfilling military duty would have been absolutely impossible."