A 10-year entry ban imposed by immigration authorities on a Vietnamese woman who lived in South Korea on a borrowed passport is lawful, a local court said Friday. 

The Seoul High Court ruled against the woman, who had challenged the decision and asked the court to invalidate the deportation order and 10-year entry ban.

The woman entered the country in April 1997 as part of an industrial trainee program, but overstayed her visa and continued to live here illegally. She received a deportation order and left the country in April 2005. In 2008, she entered Korea using a borrowed passport and was deported in 2011.

The Vietnamese woman again entered Korea using her own passport and married a Korean man in 2017.

Her immigration records were revealed as she was leaving for Vietnam from Incheon Airport in May last year, leading the airport’s immigration office to issue a deportation order and an entry ban, saying she posed a threat to public safety.

Matters related to foreigners’ entry and departure must be strictly managed as it is necessary for the functioning of the state, the lower court said.

The high court upheld the ruling.

(laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)