Korea’s Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that the lack of legal provisions for registering the births of foreign nationals born in the country is unconstitutional. It said the state must guarantee immediate birth registration regardless of nationality or legal status, and that nationality should not affect that right. In a separate case, the court found unconstitutional a Military Service Act clause requiring employers to fire workers who refuse mandatory military service. The National Assembly has until Feb. 29, 2028, to revise the legislation.
Constitutional Court justices convene at the court in central Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
Korea's Constitutional Court ruled Thursday that the country's lack of legal provisions for registering the births of foreign nationals born in the country is unconstitutional.
In a unanimous decision, the court ruled that the state had the responsibility to guarantee the right to immediate birth registrations for all individuals irrespective of their nationality or legal status.
The decision came after an undocumented Vietnamese national filed a petition in 2022 for the court to review the absence of such regulations following the birth of his child in Korea in 2019.
