'Singing the National Anthem is Mandatory'... Court Rules "Denial of Naturalization for Foreigners Unable to Sing is Justified"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] In the future, foreigners seeking naturalization in South Korea will likely be required to sing the national anthem. The court has ruled that using the ability to sing the national anthem as a criterion for naturalization screening is legitimate.

According to the legal community on the 29th, the Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 13 (Presiding Judge Nakwon Jang) ruled against foreigner A in a lawsuit filed against the Ministry of Justice, requesting the cancellation of the decision to deny the nationality application.

The court stated, "Looking at the individual screening items, the criteria have objectivity and rationality as standards to judge the basic requirements that must be met as a Korean citizen, such as Korean language proficiency, attitude as a citizen of the Republic of Korea, and belief in the free democratic basic order."

It added, "The interviewers' suitability and unsuitability judgments were consistent with each other, and the descriptive comprehensive opinions were generally similar, so the failure judgments also appear to have been appropriately made."

Previously, A, who is from a South Asian country, applied for naturalization in 2017 but was evaluated as unsuitable in the interview for basic qualities as a citizen and singing the national anthem.

In the second interview, the interviewers again evaluated A as unsuitable in items such as attitude as a Korean citizen, basic qualities as a citizen, and singing the national anthem.