A South Korean court has upheld the government’s decision to revoke the citizenship of a Pakistani man who concealed his polygamous marriage when applying for naturalization. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jul. 15 (Korea Bizwire) – A South Korean court has upheld the government’s decision to revoke the citizenship of a Pakistani man who concealed his polygamous marriage when applying for naturalization.
The Seoul Administrative Court ruled against the plaintiff, identified only as Mr. A, who had sued the Ministry of Justice to overturn the cancellation of his naturalization, according to legal sources on July 14.
Mr. A married a South Korean woman in Pakistan in July 2001 and registered the marriage in South Korea that same month. Two years later, in 2003, he married a Pakistani woman in his home country, with whom he had four children. In Pakistan, Muslim men are permitted to practice polygamy if they obtain permission from their first wife.
In March 2010, Mr. A applied for simplified naturalization in South Korea without disclosing the existence of his second wife in Pakistan. His application was approved in July 2012. In 2016, he divorced his Korean wife and subsequently registered his marriage to his Pakistani wife in South Korea the following year.
The Ministry of Justice revoked Mr. A’s naturalization in June of last year, stating that he had obtained citizenship by concealing his polygamous marriage and children from his second union. The ministry contended that Mr. A had engaged in a “sham marriage” with his Korean spouse to facilitate his Pakistani wife’s settlement in South Korea.
Mr. A challenged the decision, arguing that his marriage to the Korean woman had lasted over 10 years at the time of his naturalization, making it difficult to classify as a sham marriage.
However, the court sided with the Ministry of Justice, asserting that had the authorities been aware of Mr. A’s polygamy, they would not have granted him citizenship through simplified naturalization.
The court noted that Mr. A had omitted his Pakistani wife and children from the family relations section of his naturalization application. “The government granted naturalization based on the belief that he could be accepted as a member of our society, given his marriage to a Korean citizen and residence in the country for over two years,” the court stated.
The ruling emphasized that monogamy is a fundamental aspect of South Korea’s legal system, as prescribed by the constitution. The court concluded that the public interest served by revoking the naturalization outweighed Mr. A’s personal interests.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
