Passport was rejected for strange reasons before he left for Laos
The South Korean government reportedly invalidated the passport of a South Korean businessman who worked in China helping North Korean defectors settle in other countries. The government argued that the businessman “undermined national dignity,” while the businessman’s legal team filed an invalidation lawsuit against the government, arguing that it is the Republic of Korea’s role to help North Korean defectors.
According to the Chosun Ilbo newspaper on Tuesday, the businessman began helping North Koreans defect from North Korea and China move to safety in 2013. He was arrested while transporting four North Korean defectors in October 2019. He was sentenced to one year and two months in prison. He was released and returned to South Korea in June 2021.
Some people still wanted help from this businessman after his release, and he accepted a plan where he would help six defectors in China move to Laos in November. He set up detailed plans and went to the airport to depart for Laos on November 19. There, he found out that his passport was no longer valid.
It was revealed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs notified the businessman of the invalidation of his passport in August, but it was delivered to a previous address. The ministry cited Article 12, Section 3(2), of the Passport Act for rejecting his passport. The clause states that “A person notified by a diplomatic mission abroad or a relevant administrative agency of the fact that his or her unlawful act, etc. prescribed by Presidential Decree, which was committed in a foreign country substantially undermined national dignity.”
The businessman said that the six defectors he was going to help were arrested by the Chinese police since he was not able to go to Laos to proceed with the plan. He said that he was going to send a car to pick them up near the border, but since he could not go there, the defectors took public transportation with other people’s IDs and eventually were caught.
The businessman added that most of the six defectors are women who were victims of human trafficking and lived like slaves. The businessman said that there are 136 defectors abroad who are connected with him on a chatting application, and they all want to come to South Korea.
The businessman asked the Korean Bar Association’s defector and human rights subcommittee for legal help. The association concluded that the businessman’s activities do not amount to “undermining national dignity” and formed a joint legal representation team. The legal team filed an invalidation lawsuit calling for the government’s decision to invalidate the businessman’s passport to be repealed.
“If the passport of A [the businessman] continues to remain invalid, it would be obvious that many people who want to come to Korea from China by going through Laos and Thailand will face significant danger,” the legal team wrote in their preliminary plea to the court.
The legal team also mentioned Article 4, Section 2, of the North Korean Refugees Protection and Settlement Support Act. The act states that “the Republic of Korea shall make all of its diplomatic efforts to protect and support North Korean defectors who are staying in foreign countries.”
“Helping defectors safely enter South Korea is not an act of undermining national dignity,” the legal team said. “It fits the nation’s duty to protect them and is something that the government should encourage and support.”
However, it was reported that the Foreign Ministry does not agree with the legal team’s argument. The legal team representing the ministry sent a response to the court in late December stating that the businessman committed the crime of illegally entering another country which undermined national dignity. The team said the law mandates that individuals’ passports are restricted for two years if the government is notified of such a crime. The Foreign Ministry’s legal team also argued that it is hard to believe the businessman’s argument that many defectors will be in danger if he is not able to go to Laos.
Meanwhile, the Seoul Administrative Court dismissed the plea filed by the businessman on January 13. The businessman’s legal team told the media that they will soon file an appeal.
Meanwhile, a North Korean escapee was indicted last week on charges of breaking a South Korean law that banned the spreading of leaflets along the inter-Korean border. Park Sang-hak, an escapee and human rights activist, became the first person to be indicted under the new “anti-leaflet law.” Some commentators argued that this law is aimed at putting a policy of engagement with North Korea above human rights. The U.S. Congress even expressed its concerns over the new law multiple times, including through a bipartisan hearing on the issue.
Even as the Moon administration comes to a close, it is insisting on putting its failed peace ventures ahead of the human rights of North Koreans.
