Constitutional Court rules lack of birth registration system for foreign children born in Korea as unconstitutional
The court described birth registrations as an "independent fundamental right" and pointed to risks faced by children without birth registrations, such as abuse or abandonment.
The Constitutional Court in Jongno District, central Seoul, on April 3YONHAP
The Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that foreign children born in the country have a fundamental right to be registered at birth, unanimously finding that the absence of such a legal system is unconstitutional.
The ruling came after a Vietnamese national who had a child in Korea filed a constitutional complaint. He argued that the legislature’s failure to establish measures governing birth registration for foreign children born in Korea violated the Constitution.
The Vietnamese national entered Korea in 2008 on a nonprofessional employment visa. After marrying a Vietnamese woman in 2016, both spouses stayed in Korea beyond their authorized periods of stay.
The couple had a child at a medical center in Seoul in 2019. However, they could not register their child’s birth because the current Act on Registration of Family Relations outlines procedures for registering births, marriages, deaths and other family relations for Korean nationals only.
The parent filed a constitutional complaint in February 2022, arguing that the legislative gap infringed on the child’s fundamental rights.
“The right to be registered immediately after birth means the right to have the state register and manage basic information concerning a child’s birth at the earliest possible point […] at which the child can receive protection,” the Constitutional Court said.
“It is an independent fundamental right — not explicitly stipulated in the Constitution — that allows a child to demand the minimum safeguards necessary to […] grow up healthy under the protection of parents and family. It is also a fundamental prerequisite for realizing the general right to personality.”
The Constitutional Court building on June 9YONHAP
The court also pointed to the risks faced by children without birth registrations. Children whose existence cannot be officially documented in Korea may face a greater risk of abuse or abandonment and could become more vulnerable to other crimes because their identities are not formally recorded.
As a result, the court ruled that the state has an obligation to establish a legal mechanism that guarantees birth registration for foreign children born in Korea.
“The state has a legislative duty to define the specific substance of this right so that births can be registered under Korean law, regardless of [a child’s] nationality, immigration status or whether the birth has been registered in [their] country of nationality,” the court said.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
