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By Park Si-soo
A naturalized man faces the risk of losing her Korean nationality after his bigamy was discovered.
The Seoul Administrative Court found the Ministry of Justice's decision to strip him of Korean nationality grounded on Tuesday, rejecting his petition. Bigamy is illegal in Korea.
"The ministry has the authority to reject or revoke its giving of Korean citizenship after reviewing (candidates or the naturalized's) willingness to respect and abide by rules and legal systems," Judge Kim Jung-joong said. "For him to be in the state of bigamy is a critical cause of getting his citizenship revoked."
It is unknown if he will appeal.
The man, born in an unidentified Islamic country, won Korean citizenship in 2014 after marrying a Korean woman in 2004. In 2009, he tied the knot with another woman in his mother country and had a daughter.
A ministry investigation revealed his bigamy. It became suspicious when he attempted to adopt "a girl" from his motherland shortly after his divorce from the Korean.
The ministry said he had deliberately avoided registering his second marriage in a bid to hide his bigamy here.