A Seoul court said Sunday that the Justice Ministry’s decision to disallow a Nepalese from applying for naturalization due to a traffic accident record was unfair.

The ministry had denied the Nepalese, whose identity was withheld, from acquiring South Korean citizenship because of his involvement in a motorcycle accident in 2014. 

The applicant, who had been running a business including a restaurant here since 2005 was fined 500,000 won ($420) for colliding with another bike after violating a traffic light. He applied for naturalization the same year, but the ministry turned it down citing the “misconduct.”

“The traffic accident was a mistake, with the counterpart also partly responsible … The Justice Ministry’s decision abuses and deviates from the scope of its power,” the Seoul Administrative Court ruled.

The Nepalese had no criminal record or tax delinquency during the nine years here. He also passed all the necessary written tests and interview. 

The number of naturalized Koreans has reached 29,506 between 2013 and July 2015, according to the Justice Ministry.

From March this year, a foreign national seeking naturalization as a South Korean must have assets of at least 60 million won or regular income that surpasses the per capita gross national income. Last year’s per capita GNI was 29.7 million won. The ministry explained the standards have been changed to consider various factors as inflation since the last change in 1998. (khnews@heraldcorp.com)