ויתור מרצון על אזרחות (국적이탈)

Constitutional Court 2016헌마889 (2020-09-24, 헌법불합치 + 기각): the Court held 국적법 제12조제2항 본문 AND the portion of 제14조제1항 단서 relating to §12(2) main text — which barred a male dual national who passed the 3-month-after-병역준비역-편입 selection window from renouncing ROK nationality until his military obligation is resolved, WITHOUT exception even where missing the window was not his fault — DISPROPORTIONATELY infringes the freedom to renounce nationality (국적이탈의 자유, 과잉금지원칙 위배). 7:2 (2 dissenting justices upheld on 병역부담평등 grounds). The impugned provisions were ordered to continue applying until the legislative deadline 2022-09-30; if not amended they would lose effect from 2022-10-01. The companion challenge to 시행규칙 제12조제2항제1호 (family-relations-certificate attachment) was DISMISSED (기각).

• REACQUISITION after §10(3) loss (국적의 재취득, §11): a person who lost ROK nationality under §10(3) (failure to renounce/pledge within 1 year) MAY reacquire ROK nationality by renouncing the foreign nationality within 1 year of the loss and REPORTING (신고) to the Minister of Justice; nationality is acquired at the time of reporting. This is a declaratory report mechanism, DISTINCT from §9 reinstatement (국적회복) which is a discretionary ministerial permission. - LOSS REPORTING & administration (§16): a person who has lost ROK nationality (EXCLUDING a person who filed a §14 renunciation declaration) shall report the loss (국적상실신고) to the Minister of Justice. Public officials who identify a person who lost nationality must notify the Minister, who then informs the family-relations-registration office (가족관계등록 관서) and resident-registration office. This confirms the procedural DISTINCTION between 국적이탈 (renunciation, §14, prospective by dual national) and 국적상실 (loss, having occurred e.g. by §15, reported under §16).

Primary statute: 국적법 제14조. Operative 1948-12-20–present. Authority: Minister of Justice (법무부장관); Korea Immigration Service (출입국·외국인정책본부).