(Restrictions, etc. on Issuance of Passport to Criminal in Overseas Election)

(1) Upon receipt of a request from the National Election Commission or a public prosecutor, the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall place restrictions on the issuance or re-issuance of a passport under the Passport Act (referring to “issuance of a passport”) to any of the following persons or order any of the following persons to return his/her passport (hereinafter referred to as “restrictions”):

<Amended by Act No. 11690, Mar. 23, 2013>

1. A person in whose case there is a reasonable ground to believe that he/she committed a crime punishable by imprisonment for a long term of not less than three years under this Act but it is impossible to close investigations because the person has not respond to the summons of the National Election Commission for investigations or because his/her whereabouts are unknown;

2. A person in whose case prosecution for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a long period of not less than three years and committed by him/her in a foreign country has been suspended. 

(2) The National Election Commission or a public prosecutor shall make a request for placing restrictions on the issuance of a passport pursuant to
paragraph (1) by a document stating the reasons for the request, the period of restriction or the period of custody after a passport is returned (hereinafter referred to as “period of custody”). 

(3) If it is deemed necessary to extend the period of restriction or the period of custody under paragraph (2), the National Election Commission or a
public prosecutor may request the extension in writing by not later than 30 days before the end of the period of restriction or the period of custody.

(4) The period of restriction or the period of custody under paragraph (2) or (3) shall not exceed five years after the election day for the relevant election, but the National Election Commission or a public prosecutor may request the Minister of Foreign Affairs to cancel restrictions on the
issuance of a passport even during the period of restriction or the period of custody, if it is found that the ground for the request for restrictions
has been extinguished.

<Amended by Act No. 11690, Mar. 23, 2013>

(5) Upon receipt of a request under paragraph (3) or (4), the Minister of Foreign Affairs shall comply with the request, except in exceptional circumstances.

<Amended by Act No. 11690, Mar. 23, 2013>

(6) Except as otherwise provided for in this Article with respect to restrictions on the issuance of a passport under paragraph (1), the Passport Act shall apply mutatis mutandis to the procedure for placing restrictions on the issuance of a passport, the invalidation and recovery of a passport when a person does not comply with an order to return it, and other relevant matters.

[This Article Newly Inserted by Act No. 11374, Feb. 29, 2012]