Article 9 (1) of the former Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act (amended by Act No. 9357 of Jan. 30, 2009; hereinafter referred to as the "former Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act") provides that "When residents of South and North Korea intend to visit South Korea and North Korea, they shall carry a certificate issued by the Minister of Unification, as prescribed by Presidential Decree." Article 10 provides that "When a Korean national residing abroad who does not possess a foreign nationality and does not possess a passport of the Republic of Korea wishes to depart from South Korea, he/she shall carry a travel certificate under the Passport Act." Meanwhile, Article 14 of the former Passport Act (amended by Act No. 979 of Oct. 19, 2009) provides that "the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade shall lose his/her passport during his/her stay abroad and has no time to wait for the issuance of a passport, and Article 9 (1) of the former Enforcement Decree of the Travel Certificate shall be issued at least once prior to the expiration of the term of validity of the passport (excluding paragraph (1).6).

In full view of the contents, form, system, legislative purport, etc. of these provisions, it is reasonable to view that a Korean national in the registry may have a travel certificate under the former Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation Act and travel to and from the Republic of Korea, a Korean national in the registry without acquiring the nationality of Japan in 1947, but without changing the indication of nationality, etc. to the Republic of Korea.

According to the reasoning of the judgment below and the records, the court below found that the plaintiff applied for the issuance of travel certificate to the defendant as a Korean national residing in the Cho Jong-si, but the defendant attended a meeting of the Korean National Assembly and the Korean National Youth Union for the Korean Democratic Unification (hereinafter referred to as the "Korean Democratic Unification Union"), which was held by the plaintiff at the time of the second round of the year, based on the actual judgment that the plaintiff met with the Vice-Speaker of the Korean Democratic Unification Association, anti-government organizations, and issued a rejection disposition of travel certificate (hereinafter referred to as the "the disposition of this case") on the ground that the plaintiff did not prove his identity at the time of the second round of the year, and determined that the disposition of this case was based on the former Inter-Korean Exchange and Related Passport Act and related passport laws and regulations, and was not in violation of the principle of equality, and that there was no violation

In light of the above relevant statutes and the records, such determination by the court below is just, and it is not erroneous in the misapprehension of legal principles as alleged in the grounds of appeal.

Therefore, the appeal is dismissed, and the costs of appeal are assessed against the losing party. It is so decided as per Disposition by the assent of all participating Justices on the bench.

Justices Min Il-young (Presiding Justice)