KoreaMoa's court ruling news is a list that summarizes, in plain language, rulings published by Korean courts in cases involving foreigners, shown with the case number, court and a link to the original. Rulings on foreign workers and cases on wages, industrial accidents and immigration can also be found in this list; full texts of rulings are not published here, and the summaries cannot be applied as they are to other cases.
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The court dismissed the claim of a person who applied for refugee status, saying family in the home country had assaulted and threatened to kill them. The court held that a family property dispute is not a ground for refugee recognition.
The normal marital relationship had ended, so the requirements for the residence status for spouses of Korean nationals were not met. Still, the Korean spouse was mainly responsible for the breakdown, so the court found the refusal to extend the stay unlawful.
The court held that a corrective order and fine imposed on an executive of a vocational training corporation were justified. The reason given was that training fees were collected in advance from foreign worker trainees but the training course was not carried out.
In a suit where plaintiffs who received a notification disposition for a fine under the Immigration Act sought confirmation that they have no duty to pay, the court found the suit inadmissible.
A case in which the court found lawful a decision cancelling refugee recognition, on the view that the plaintiff had made false statements about family relations, sexual identity, and experience of persecution, among other things, when applying for refugee recognition.
A person staying as a recognized refugee sought cancellation of a decision rejecting an objection to a detention order. The court found the decision can be challenged in court and that there is a legal interest in suing, but did not accept the claim.
The court found that the rejection of a report of renunciation of nationality was lawful. It viewed the plaintiff's actual center of living as the Republic of Korea, so the requirement of holding a foreign address was not met.
A defendant who had been banned from entry for past illegal stay secretly entered on a container ship and stayed, and was sentenced to an actual (non-suspended) prison term of 1 year for also making another person's illegal entry easier.
A case in which the refusal to grant naturalization to a person with a record of juvenile protective measures, suspended prosecution, and fines for special larceny, unlicensed driving, and other offenses was found to contain no error.
A person who received a high-skilled visa in the UK applied for permission to extend the overseas travel period, but it was refused. The court found that the refusal did not exceed or abuse discretion and was therefore not unlawful.
Two foreign workers with a limited stay period disputed whether they became employees without a fixed term under the Fixed-Term Act. The court deemed them such employees and held the termination void as unfair dismissal.
The court found unlawful, and cancelled, the decision not to refer for examination the refugee application of a Guinean national who sought entry.
A person who entered on Working Holiday (H-1) status received a departure order on the grounds of illegal employment. The court found it difficult to conclude that the work went beyond what this status allows.
A departure order and a residence permit revocation issued to a foreigner without a status of stay permitting employment, caught providing day labor once, were found unlawful for violating the principle of proportionality.
A person who applied for nationality restoration but was not granted permission filed a lawsuit, and the court cancelled the denial. It found it hard to conclude that the person obtained U.S. citizenship to avoid military service.
The court granted the claim of Tanzanian nationals whose refugee applications were not referred for examination, finding that the grounds for non-referral were not clearly established.
The court cancelled the Ministry of Justice's decision to refuse disclosure of the manual on the detention of foreign nationals and the integrated manual on custody of immigration offenders. The court found no non-disclosure grounds under the Information Disclosure Act.
A Korean citizen, the spouse of a Vietnamese national, sought cancellation of a decision refusing a marriage immigration visa. The court reached the merits but dismissed the claim.
A lawsuit was filed against a decision refusing to issue a marriage migration visa. The court found the decision lawful.
A case in which the court found that a foreign national who resides in Korea but whose period of stay has expired also has the right to request information disclosure.
International students received money by transfer, obtained a bank balance certificate, and returned the money. They then submitted the certificate with an application for permission to change status of stay. The court found this to be applying by improper means and returned a guilty verdict.
A foreign national applied for a change of residence status together with a refugee application on the day the period of stay expired, but it was not permitted. The court found this refusal lawful.
After an exit ban was imposed because of a criminal investigation, the period was extended in 1-month increments for over two years and one month. The court revoked the extension measure.
A foreigner married to a Korean national applied to change residence status for infertility treatment and similar reasons, but the application was not approved. The court found no abuse or excess of discretion in the refusal.
A non-profit organization for refugee protection requested disclosure of a refugee interview video, but the head of a regional immigration office refused. The court found this refusal unlawful.
A court held that revoking residence status by oral notice alone, without a written disposition, is void as a matter of course. It held that issuing the written disposition later does not change this.
A Kazakhstan national was found guilty of drunk driving and fined 4,000,000 won (KRW), and a departure order was issued. The court held that the order did not exceed or abuse discretion.
A dual national born in the United States reported renunciation of nationality, but the Minister of Justice refused to accept the report. The court ruled in favor of the applicant.
Three Russian nationals sued to revoke decisions not to refer their cases to refugee status examination. The court granted the claims of two and dismissed the claim of one.
A person applied for refugee status, saying they risked persecution in their home country because of their homosexual orientation, but was not recognized. The court dismissed the claim to cancel the decision.
A foreign national brought a psychotropic drug into the country on entry, received a suspended indictment, and was then given a departure order. The court found the order not unlawful and did not accept the request to cancel it.
The court ruled that the departure order against a foreign worker who drove under the influence was justified.
The court found that the deportation order and detention order issued against a plaintiff convicted of voice phishing fraud and other crimes were lawful.
A business owner and a company that received foreign nationals staying illegally from an unlicensed worker dispatch agency were given a suspended prison sentence and a fine, respectively.
In a lawsuit filed by a famous singer after being refused an overseas Korean residence-status visa, the court found the second refusal lawful.
In a lawsuit by a plaintiff of Chinese nationality seeking cancellation of a departure order, the court rejected the claim. The court found the departure order lawful.
The Ministry of Justice required foreign instructors staying in Korea to submit a health certificate checking for drug use and HIV infection in connection with extension of stay permits. The court found this requirement lawful.
The court found that keeping an asylum-seeking foreigner for a long time in the Incheon Airport transit-area departure hall was unlawful detention under the Habeas Corpus Act. The detention ended during proceedings, so the request was dismissed as moot.
The Minister of Justice did not recognize the nationality of two people born in Korea to a Korean father and a foreign mother. The court canceled this measure.
A foreigner who stayed in Korea after the period of stay ended and forged a domestic residence report card received a suspended prison sentence.
A plaintiff born to a Korean mother and a Japanese father, who has lived in Korea, applied for special naturalization. The court found that the plaintiff could be regarded as meeting the good conduct requirement under the Nationality Act.
A court sentenced an international student to a fine for taking the Korean language proficiency test on behalf of a compatriot staying in Korea with refugee status.
The case concerned whether a foreigner staying in the Republic of Korea has a right to apply to the government for humanitarian stay permission. The court found it difficult to recognize such a right to apply.
The court cancelled the decision refusing refugee status to a family who claimed they were detained and tortured in their home country for political reasons. The result of the first trial was overturned.
The person had previously lost a lawsuit to cancel a refugee non-recognition decision, and that loss was final. Even so, the court cited humanitarian reasons and recognized the religious refugee status of the Iranian national.
A court found that the Ministry of Justice's residence management guideline restricting eligibility for a change to visiting-cohabitation (F-1) status for marriage migrants' family members other than parents to women cannot be considered reasonable.
A lawsuit was filed against a decision not to grant naturalization. The court revoked that decision.
A foreign worker fled an unauthorized-stay crackdown, climbed over a wall and broke a bone. The worker claimed damages from the Ministry of Justice. The appeals court did not accept the claim.
The defendants forged several foreigner registration cards together with a forger and handed them to the people who ordered them. They were sentenced to 2 years in prison. The appeal court dismissed their appeal.
A Vietnamese man applied to change to visit and cohabitation residence status. The application was refused, and the court dismissed his claim to cancel the refusal.
The head of the immigration office issued a departure order to a foreign national who had been punished 3 times for drunk and unlicensed driving. The court found this measure justified.
A person who submitted false refugee application documents to the Immigration Office was sentenced to 1 year in prison, suspended for 2 years.
A court ruled that an agency's revocation of naturalization permission was lawful for a person who concealed a bigamous relationship to obtain it.
A court acquitted a person who changed identity, entered Korea under the name of a non-existent person, obtained naturalization permission, and then used a passport to travel in and out of the country several times.
The court did not accept a claim by a family of Angolan nationality asking to cancel the decision not to conduct a refugee status examination.
The court found the refugee non-recognition decision made by the head of an immigration office against a plaintiff of Ethiopian nationality to be unlawful and revoked it.
The court ordered the cancellation of a deportation order and a detention order against a foreign national whose economic, social and cultural life is rooted only in Korea. It found the illegal stay and illegal employment were due to the parents' fault.
This was a lawsuit seeking to cancel a decision that did not allow a change of workplace. The court held that without approval to extend the employment permit period, the employment contract ended when the date of the original employment permit passed.
This case sought to cancel a decision refusing to permit a change of workplace. The court held that, without an extension permit for the employment permit period, the employment contract ended once the date of the original employment permit passed.
An Iranian who converted from Islam to Christianity in Korea applied for refugee status but was not recognized, and filed a lawsuit. The court ruled in favor of the applicant.
A plaintiff of Chinese nationality applied for refugee status but was not recognized as a refugee. The court revoked the decision not to recognize the plaintiff as a refugee.
A Vietnamese defendant who obtained Korean nationality by marrying a Korean man defrauded Vietnamese people of money. The court sentenced the defendant to 4 years in prison.
In a lawsuit seeking cancellation of a decision not to permit an extension of the period of stay, etc., the court found that the decision was unlawful.
The court ruled that when a foreigner married to a Korean national has been granted the right to see their child, the administrative authority is to decide on an extension of stay more carefully from a humanitarian perspective.
The court found that the plaintiff, a popular entertainer, obtained US citizenship to avoid military service, and held the entry ban and the visa refusal lawful.
The court held that the defendant, an executive director of a company, committed the crime of helping a criminal escape by lying to police officers searching for an undocumented worker who had committed a crime, and by paying that worker wages so the worker could flee.
The case concerns charges of assaulting and injuring immigration officers who were performing their official duties. The court found the defendants guilty only of the Immigration Act violation and acquitted them on the rest.
The court found that the applicant for nationality restoration permission had the purpose of avoiding military service when losing Korean nationality. It held that the decision not to permit restoration was lawful.
A foreigner who long overstayed in Korea applied for a status change as a citizen's spouse, was denied, and was told to leave. The appeals court found no abuse of discretion, reversed the first-instance ruling, and dismissed the claim.
An asylum seeker applied for living-cost support and was told of the refusal by text message, with no reason given. The court found that this notice violated the Administrative Procedure Act and was unlawful.
The court found that the plaintiff's remarks at talk concerts risked harming the interests of the Republic of Korea or public safety, and held the deportation order against the plaintiff lawful.
A Syrian man applied for refugee recognition. The court cancelled the immigration office head's decision not to refer the application for examination.
A Vietnamese woman applied to extend her stay after divorcing her Korean spouse, but the extension was not granted. The court found that the refusal was justified.
A case in which the court treated entering on a passport in a changed name, to avoid re-entry restrictions from past illegal stay, as grounds for deportation. The court said that entering on a passport in a changed name does not, by itself, mean entering on an invalid passport.
Defendants who could not enter the country in the normal way and entered illegally while surveillance was lax received suspended sentences. If the judgment becomes final, they will be deported under the Immigration Act.
The court cancelled a decision not to review a refugee status application that was not clearly without grounds.
A court ruled unlawful a disposition that found a naturalization applicant failed the good conduct requirement because of a criminal record from a traffic accident.
The court held that the 'released person' subject to deportation under the former Immigration Act includes anyone sentenced and freed from court proceedings, whether or not detained.
An immigration investigator at an immigration office fell and died while searching for illegal residents. The court recognized this person as a public official killed in the line of duty.
A Chinese national entered Korea on a short-term business visa with a 90-day stay period and remained after the period ended. The court sentenced the person to 6 months in prison, suspended for 2 years.
The court cancelled a decision refusing to extend the stay of a plaintiff of Chinese nationality, which was based on the view that the restaurant where the plaintiff works is not a foreign-food specialty restaurant.
A Liberian national applied for refugee status, but the head of the immigration office decided not to refer the application for examination. The court cancelled this decision.
The court canceled an entry denial issued to a U.S. national who received a suspended prosecution for smoking cannabis. The court found the decision exceeded and abused discretionary power, making it unlawful.
A court cancelled the decision not to permit a stay extension for a Chinese national married to a man of Korean nationality. The court found the marriage to be genuine.
A prison sentence was imposed for disguising the infants of Vietnamese spouses staying in Korea illegally as children of Korean nationals and sending them out of the country to Vietnam.
A foreign national from Liberia applied for refugee status, citing the risk of female genital mutilation, but the application was rejected. The court found the rejection lawful.
For a deportation order issued right after a refugee recognition application, the court found the action unlawful because it went beyond and abused discretionary power.
A broker who tried to illegally move Chinese nationals who entered the island visa-free to the Korean mainland was sentenced to 10 months in prison. The Chinese nationals received suspended sentences.
The court found lawful a departure order issued to a Chinese national who, while staying unlawfully, received fines and suspended prosecution for several offenses.
In a lawsuit by a foreign national from Pakistan seeking cancellation of a refugee non-recognition decision, the court dismissed the claim. It found the evidence insufficient to recognize a well-founded fear of persecution on religious grounds.
The case concerns an attempt to hide a Chinese national who entered visa-free inside a car's ceiling so that the person could leave Jeju Port by passenger ferry. The domestic broker received a prison sentence, and the Chinese national received a suspended sentence.
Defendants 1, 2 and 3, who employed several foreigners without a resident status that permits work, each received a suspended prison sentence. Defendant 4 received a fine.
The court found the decision denying refugee status unlawful and revoked it. It considered the applicant's public statement of conscience, activities related to North Korean defectors, and the situation in China together.
This case involved criminal punishment in the process of disguising the infant of an undocumented Vietnamese couple as the child of a Korean national and sending the infant out of the country to Vietnam.
The case concerned whether a foreigner who was not detained and received a suspended sentence is 'a person sentenced to imprisonment or a heavier penalty and released', a category of persons subject to deportation under the Immigration Act. The court found that the person is.
The court found it difficult to conclude that the breakdown of the marriage was due to reasons not attributable to the foreigner, who had stayed as a marriage migrant of a Korean national. It held that the decision not to permit the extension of the stay period was lawful.
The court found that the applicant, a member of an opposition party in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, had a well-founded fear of persecution because of political opinion, and cancelled the decision not to recognize the applicant as a refugee.
The court ruled that a departure order is unlawful if the authority that issued it did not clearly state its basis and reasons.
A court found that the deportation order and detention order against a Pakistani national with corporate investment residence status did not exceed or abuse discretion, and did not grant the claim.
A person deported for illegal stay re-entered Korea on a Chinese passport with a different name and date of birth. The court found obstruction of official duties by deceit and sentenced the person to 10 months in prison, suspended for 2 years.
The court set aside a decision not to conduct a refugee status examination for a foreign national who applied for refugee status at an airport. The court found that the decision exceeded or abused discretion and was unlawful.
This ruling revoked a decision refusing refugee status to an Iranian plaintiff, based on the plaintiff's political activities, conversion and other grounds.
A court ruled that keeping a foreign national who applied for refugee status in the Incheon Airport repatriation waiting room for about 5 months was unlawful detention under the Habeas Corpus Act.
The court found lawful a departure order issued to a person of foreign nationality who tested positive for cannabis in urine and hair tests.
The court held that a disposition collecting half of the insurance benefits paid was lawful, because the accident occurred during a period when no industrial accident insurance enrollment report had been filed. The plaintiff's claim was not accepted.
The court cancelled a deportation order and a detention order issued because an asylum applicant worked without permission during the review. The court found that both orders exceeded and abused discretionary authority.
The court ruled lawful the immigration office head's denial of a stay extension and departure order against a foreign national fined 5,000,000 won (KRW) for a drunk-driving accident. The plaintiff's claim was dismissed.
A woman persecuted in her home country for being gay was recognized as a refugee. The court found she could face persecution if she returned.
A court set aside a decision that refused to extend the period of stay of a Chinese national married to a citizen of the Republic of Korea, a decision made on the grounds that the genuineness of the marriage was not recognized.
In a lawsuit seeking to cancel the decision denying a naturalization application, the court found that the decision did not exceed the scope of discretionary authority.
Defendants who had been deported and banned from entry obtained visas with documents bearing changed names and birth dates, and re-entered. The court imposed actual (non-suspended) prison sentences.
A Sri Lankan defendant who entered for work and was later deported forged an ID card, obtained a visa and entered again. The court sentenced the defendant to 8 months in prison, suspended for 1 year.
Two people lent applicants money for one day so they could obtain bank balance certificates and apply for naturalization. They received suspended prison sentences and community service. The court found obstruction of official duties by deceit.
A Pakistani national who registered a marriage with a Korean citizen sued to cancel a decision refusing a change of status of stay. The court granted the applicant's claim.
The court found that the Vietnamese wife registered the marriage only to enter Korea, without intending to live as a married couple, and confirmed that the marriage is void.
An immigration office official's crackdown on illegal residents, carried out after entering a factory without the factory manager's consent, is not a lawful execution of official duties. The court found the factory operator who obstructed the crackdown not guilty.
This paternity denial case involved a plaintiff, a defendant and a child who were all nationals of the People's Republic of China. The court found that Korea has jurisdiction and granted the plaintiff's claim.
An applicant from the Luo people of Kenya applied for refugee recognition, claiming a fear of persecution because of the wife inheritance custom. The court held that the application is to be granted.
In a case of posing as the Korea representative of Uzbekistan's Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare to receive remittances, the court found the defendant guilty in part. Imprisonment for 3 years and a fine of 1 billion won (KRW) were imposed.
In a suit by Nigerian plaintiffs seeking cancellation of the decision not to recognize them as refugees, the court did not accept the claim. The appellate court also dismissed all appeals.
This is an appeal seeking to cancel the Minister of Justice's refusal of a nationality application. The court dismissed the appeal.
After visa issuance confirmation applications for Chinese women were not approved, the people who sought to invite them asked for the decision to be cancelled. The court found they had no standing to sue and dismissed the suit.
A Chinese worker was badly injured while fleeing an immigration office crackdown on illegal residents. His application for medical care approval was denied. The court revoked the denial.
Immigration officials entered a workplace and began enforcement without the factory manager's prior consent, with no urgent circumstance preventing it. The court held obstruction of official duties not established, but convicted the defendant of the knife injury.
Three people who entered Korea as industrial trainees and worked at a company claimed severance pay from it. The court found that they were actually workers and ordered the company to pay severance pay.
The head of a regional labor office sent back the establishment report of a labor union whose main members are undocumented foreigners. The court cancelled that rejection and sided with the union.
This is an appeal in a wage lawsuit brought by two Chinese industrial trainees against a company. The court rejected most of the company's appeal.
Two people who had worked in Korea as foreign industrial trainees claimed severance pay. The court recognized severance pay only for the period worked after the training period ended, and did not accept the claim for compensation for emotional distress.
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Source: Republic of Korea Courts, Major Rulings of Courts Nationwide
Rulings not listed here can be found on the full board of the court website.
You can see summaries of rulings involving foreigners in the list on this page, and “View summary” on each card shows the facts of the case, the court's decision and how it relates to foreigners. The originals are on the major rulings board of courts nationwide on the website of the Korean judiciary.
The list is organized by category badges (civil, criminal, administrative, family, patent, other) and titles. Check cases on foreign workers' wages, industrial accidents, and immigration and stay in the titles and summaries. There is no separate page grouped by topic yet.
You can see summaries of rulings involving foreigners on this page, and the originals are on the major rulings board of courts nationwide of the Korean judiciary.
Cases involving foreign workers may be included in the list. Check the titles and summaries.
There is no page grouped by topic yet. Check wage-related cases in the titles and summaries of the list.
Cases related to immigration and stay are in the list. Check them by category badge, title and summary.
No. Summaries put the gist published by the court into plain language, and since the facts differ in every case, they cannot be applied as they are to other cases. Check the exact content in the original.
KoreaMoa does not publish full texts of rulings and shows only summaries and links to the originals.
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