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Court rules Military Service Act on 2nd-generation emigrants is constitutional
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By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
The Constitutional Court unanimously ruled Sunday that a clause of the Military Service Act, which calls on second-generation South Korean emigrants to fulfill the country's mandatory military service if they stay in South Korea for more than three years, is constitutional.
Under the standing law, those who have obtained foreign citizenship at birth in other countries or permanent residency after emigration, are exempt from military duty, while all able bodied men in Korea are required to serve in the military for about two years as South and North Korea are technically still at war.
But a clause of the Military Service Act stipulates that second-generation South Korean emigrants who are 18 years of age or older are excluded from this preferential treatment if they stay in the country for more than three years.
This clause, which had previously been applied to those who were born after Jan. 1, 1994, was revised in May 2018, calling on the clause to be applied to all second-generation emigrants.
This promoted some people who were born before Dec. 31, 1993 to file a constitutional appeal. They claimed that the clause infringes on their right to pursue their happiness and freedom of movement.
“Second-generation emigrants have been given a wide range of preferential treatment,” the court said in its ruling. “Staying in South Korea for more than three years should be seen as this country having become their home base, thus there are rational reasons for excluding them from the preferential treatment regarding military duty.”