Travel ban lifted for South Korean men before military duty
● Updated law: Enforcement Decree of the Passport Act
What it does: Eases regulation on the issuance of multientry passports to South Koreans who did not complete their military service
Took effect: May 1
Since May 1, those who have not completed their mandatory military service are eligible to receive multientry passports valid for 10 years, the same as the general public. This is because the regulation that limited the validity of multientry passports for those who had not completed mandatory military service to five years was abolished in order to eliminate discrimination against them.
The abolition applies to all passport applications submitted on or after May 1, and applicants are now able to apply for a passport without the need to verify military service information, such as submitting military service documents. However, despite the latest abolition, those who have not fulfilled their mandatory military service will still be required to obtain government permission for overseas travel.
Preventing violence in and around schools
● Updated law: Act on the Prevention of and Countermeasures Against Violence in Schools
What it does: Strengthens the role of superintendents of education as supervisors in coping with school violence
Took effect: May 22
From this year, superintendents of education in each special city and province will be required to draft and implement an annual action plan for prevention of school violence, taking into account local conditions and the results of a school violence survey.
The role of the superintendent of education is greatly strengthened to prevent school violence more effectively. Superintendents of education must annually publish performance results of the previous year's action plan and the action plan for the following year. They are expected to take a leading role in building a more systematic and effective response system to school violence.
-- In collaboration with the Ministry of Government Legislation, The Korea Herald publishes a monthly article on laws that have recently been updated in South Korea. The ministry's Easy Law service (https://www.easylaw.go.kr/CSM/Main.laf) provides accessible summaries of Korean laws grouped by category in English and 11 other languages: Arabic, Bengali, Cambodian, Simplified Chinese, Indonesian, Japanese, Mongolian, Nepali, Thai, Uzbek and Vietnamese -- Ed.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
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