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| The court ruled that a permanent resident who was convicted of fraud or embezzlement cannot be naturalized as a Korean. gettyimagesbank |
By Dong Sun-hwa
Foreigners with permanent resident status may not be eligible for naturalization if they are convicted of fraud and embezzlement, a court ruled last week.
The Seoul Administrative ruling came in a case in which a Southeast Asian woman filed a complaint against the Minister of Justice for denying her application for naturalization in April.
Citing her crimes, the court ruled, "It is hard to see that she has appropriate moral character and behavior to become Korea's new member."
The woman, who married a Korean and has four children, has been living here as a permanent resident with an F-5 visa. She applied for naturalization last year, but the Ministry of Justice rejected the application.
While working as a counselor at a support center for foreign workers in 2013 and 2014, the woman swindled about 40 million won ($36,000) in severance pay from six alien workers, who had to leave Korea before receiving the money because their stay period had expired.
She promised to transfer the cash, but pocketed it. In 2016 she was fined 5 million won for fraud and embezzlement.
