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By Lee Bok-nam
As an official from the Ministry of Justice responsible for visa issuance, I would like to express my view after reading a Feb. 12 Korea Times article, ``Testing Teachers for Drugs and AIDS,'' by Prof. Benjamin Wagner.
Wagner claims that the policy of requiring foreign language instructor (E-2) visa applicants of documents of criminal and health records is injustice.
Prof. Wagner maintains that requiring foreign language instructor (E-2) visa applicants of criminal and health records goes against the Article 37 (2) of the Constitution that reads, ``The freedoms and rights of citizens may be restricted by act only when necessary for national security, the maintenance of law and order or for public welfare. Even when such restriction is imposed, no essential aspect of the freedom or right shall be violated.''
But his argument overlooks the following facts. First, requiring submission of criminal and health records is a matter of whether or not to allow entry of foreigners with visa issuance, not a matter of restricting the constitutional basic rights of person regarding employment of certain occupation.
No country in the world allows unconditional entry of foreigners or recognizes free entry of foreigners as the constitutional basic rights. Countries of the world selectively grant permission of entrance into their territories to foreigners based on their interest.
In other word, foreigners do not have the right to demand that a country guarantees equal rights with the nationals of the country regarding entry into the country. This is the general opinion of the constitutional law academic circle.
The assertion of Prof. Wagner is based on the flawed premise that entry into a certain country is the constitutional basic rights of foreigners and thus misunderstands the relevant Korean law.
Furthermore, the U.S., the motherland of Prof. Wagner, requires immigration visa applicants of health records containing a blood test and an X-ray test result as well as criminal record. In addition, applicants are required to be vaccinated against more than 10 diseases.
Second, requiring potential foreign language instructors of criminal and health records is aimed at protecting public order and welfare and is based on the Immigration Control Act.
The Immigration Control Act stipulates that persons who have the possibility of doing harm to public safety or persons who have the possibility of doing harm to public health such as drug users or those with legally designated infectious disease can be prohibited from entering Korea.
Such stipulation exists not only in the Korean law but also in most countries' law including the U.S. law (Article 212 of the Immigration and Nationality Act.)
And the enforcement rule of the Immigration Control Act requires compulsory inspection on whether foreigners applying for visas do not have the possibility of doing harm to public safety and health.
According to the same rule, the heads of Korean diplomatic missions overseas can require additional documents for visa issuance procedure if it is considered to be necessary.
These are the legal grounds for our policy of requiring foreign language instructor visa applicants of criminal and health records.
Moreover, the Ministry of Justice has announced its plan to amend the enforcement rule in order to more clearly stipulate the requirement of criminal and health records from visa applicants to prevent questioning about legal ground for the rule.
Third, requiring foreign language instructors of criminal and health records does not violate essential aspect of their constitutional basic rights.
The government is not banning all foreigners from working as an foreign language teacher in Korea but banning foreigners who fail to meet the given requirements from being foreign language instructor in Korea.
Consequently, Prof. Wagner's claim that the Korean government requires foreign language instructor visa applicants of criminal history and health record without any legal ground stems from the lack of understanding of the Constitution and the Immigration Control Act of Korea.
In addition, the act on protecting youth from sexual offense totally bans ``Korean'' nationals with a history of sexual offenses from lecturing and getting any form of employment in youth education institutions.
And according to the act, it is also the obligation for the heads of education institutions to verify criminal records of ``Korean'' employees.
Crimes by foreigners reported to the Prosecutors' Office surged by 265 percent over the past five years since 2003. Drug-related offences by foreigners reached 976, compared with 9,888 for Korean nationals. The crime rate based on the total foreigners here outstrips that of Korean nationals based on the total population by four fold. Under the circumstances, it is inevitable for the Korean government to take firm measures against such a disturbing trend.
The Korean government is pursuing an open society for all. The government is proactively attracting foreign language instructors recognizing them as valuable talents and is trying to respect their rights. However the government will always strive to make sure law and order is not sacrificed in exchange for opening.
Lee Bok-nam is director of the Border Control Division, the Korea Immigration Service. He can be reached at l1259@moj.go.kr).
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