Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Activists, foreign ministry clash over approval process for Ukraine trip
South Korean rights activists pose with an official from Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, center, during their visit to Ukraine, in this photo released May 9 by Ukraine in a social media post. Courtesy of Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War
By Jung Min-ho
Rights advocates face probe after traveling without permission for NK prisoners of war
Rights activists under police investigation over an unauthorized visit to Ukraine in May say the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked them to secure a recommendation from the unification minister as part of their application for exceptional passport-use approval — a requirement the ministry says it never imposed.
Earlier this month, police notified the activists that they were being investigated on suspicion of violating the Passport Act following a complaint by the ministry. Ukraine was designated a travel-ban country for South Korean citizens in February 2022, and entering the country without exceptional passport-use approval is subject to criminal penalties.
The activists say they had sought permission well in advance of their visit to meet Ukrainian officials over two North Korean prisoners of war. They say they submitted all documents requested by the foreign ministry but were unable to obtain a recommendation letter before their scheduled May 7-11 visit. One of the six activists, Kang Dong-wan, a professor at Dong-A University, described the alleged request as “unprecedented” and questioned the fairness of the ministry’s demand.
“We had been in contact with the foreign ministry for about two months to obtain approval. They continued to ask us to supplement the documents until the very end, and then, at the last minute, told us to obtain an approval letter from the unification minister,” he told The Korea Times. “We went to the Ministry of Unification and submitted the documents, but the ministry had no reason to provide such approval. Ultimately, we were not able to obtain it.”
Although they failed to obtain permission, the group, comprising rights advocates including North Korean defectors, went ahead with the trip to Ukraine to meet officials there and discuss the fate of two North Korean soldiers captured in early 2025 while fighting for Russia. Kang said the visit was intended to help prevent their repatriation to North Korea.
During the visit, the delegation met with officials from Ukraine’s Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War. The visitors stressed the grave threats the prisoners could face if they were repatriated to the North, and asked the officials to deliver aid packages and letters of support prepared by human rights groups.
Asked about the activists’ account of the permit process, the foreign ministry denied instructing the delegation to obtain approval from the unification minister specifically.
“Article 29, Paragraph 1 of the Enforcement Decree of the Passport Act says the grounds for exceptional passport use approval. Subparagraph 5 of the same paragraph and article lists ‘cases where a mission related to national interests or business activities is performed under the recommendation of the head of the competent central government agency’ as one of the grounds … Accordingly, we advised just that, and did not advise that approval from a specific ministry was necessary,” the ministry said in a statement sent to The Korea Times.
Asked whether pro-Palestinian activists bound for Gaza had faced similar legal action, the ministry said that two South Koreans aboard an aid flotilla never entered Gaza. It said their vessels were intercepted by Israeli forces at sea before reaching the territory. Gaza, like Ukraine, is designated as a travel-ban area for citizens.
“Because the two citizens neither visited nor stayed in Gaza, a designated travel-ban area, they are not subject to punishment under Article 26 of the Passport Act,” the ministry said.
But the ministry didn’t respond to follow-up questions about how many criminal complaints it has filed over Passport Act violations or whether it has issued warnings instead of filing complaints in comparable cases.
A human rights expert said that while the state can restrict freedom of movement under certain circumstances, such limits must not be arbitrary, discriminatory or disproportionate.
“It is particularly worrying that the existing regulation does not grant exceptions to human rights advocates and requires them to receive recommendations from relevant administrative agencies for work concerning state interest or corporate activities, allowing the government to criminalize their advocacy work,” said Shin Hee-seok, legal analyst at the Transitional Justice Working Group.