Naturalization called off for past ‘misbehavior’

A Seoul court has rejected the naturalization of a Chinese woman citing a record of “misbehavior,” court records showed yesterday.

The Seoul High Court recently overturned a lower court’s ruling that had ordered the Justice Ministry to cancel its decision to deny the 38-year-old Chinese woman a chance to become a naturalized Korean citizen.

She does not meet naturalization requirements, as her sham marriage and an illegal entry into the country are not in accordance with the naturalization rule requiring “decent behavior,” although she married and has been living with a Korean man nearly for a decade, court documents said.

The case is expected to serve as a precedent for the denial of Korean citizenship to foreign residents with misdemeanors in their records.

The woman, whose name was withheld by the court, was given a fine after being found to have entered into a fake marriage with a Korean man in 1996 in order to gain Korean citizenship, and entered the country with a passport of another person the same year. Later, she was punished for forging a private document and for involvement in a group violence case.

She filed for naturalization in 2009 after marrying a Korean man in 2003 and giving birth to two children.

A lower court had ruled in her favor saying members of multiethnic families in the country need special care to avoid possible discrimination.

Yonhap