Wholly Amended by Act No. 4522, Dec. 8, 1992
Amended by Act No. 4592, Dec. 10, 1993
Act No. 4796, Dec. 22, 1994
Act No. 5176, Dec. 12, 1996
Act No. 5434, Dec. 13, 1997
Act No. 5755, Feb. 5, 1999
Act No. 6540, Dec. 29, 2001
Act No. 6745, Dec. 5, 2002
Act No. 7034, Dec. 31, 2003
Act No. 7406, Mar. 24, 2005

The purpose of this Act is to provide for matters concerning control over the immigration of all nationals and foreigners who enter or depart from the Republic of Korea, control over the sojourn of foreigners who stay in the Republic of Korea, and the procedure for recognition of refugees.

Article 2 (Definitions)
For the purpose of this Act,
1.the term\u201cnational\u201d means a national of the Republic of Korea;
2.the term\u201cforeigner\u201d means any person who has no nationality of the Republic of Korea;

2-2.the term\u201crefugee\u201d means a person to whom the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (hereinafter referred to as the\u201cRefugee Agreement\u201d) is applied under Article 1 of the Refugee Agreement and Article 1 of the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees;

3.the term\u201cpassport\u201d means a passport or refugee travel certificate issued by the Government of the Republic of Korea, any foreign government or competent international organization, or any other certificate equal to the passport which the Government of the Republic of Korea acknowledges valid;

5.the term\u201centry and departure port\u201d means a harbor, airport or other places in the Republic of Korea, through which any person may enter or depart from the Republic of Korea, and which is prescribed by the Presidential Decree;

6.the term\u201chead of a diplomatic mission abroad\u201d means an ambassador, minister, consul- general or consul of the Republic of Korea residing in a foreign country, or the head of an organization carrying out the consular affairs;

8.the term\u201cships, etc.\u201d means ships, airplanes, trains, automobiles and other transportation means which transport persons or things between the Republic of Korea and any area outside the Republic of Korea;

[[Enforcement Date: September 25, 2005]]
CHAPTER\u2161ENTRY AND DEPARTURE OF NATIONALS TO AND FROM KOREA
Article 3 (Departure of National from Korea)

(1) Any national who desires to depart from the Republic of Korea to an area outside the Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as\u201cdeparture\u201d), shall hold a valid passport and undergo a departure inspection conducted by the immigration control official at the entry and departure port from which the national is to depart: Provided, That if it is impossible to depart from the entry and departure port by any inevitable reason, he may depart after undergoing the departure inspection conducted by an immigration control official at a place other than the entry and departure port with a permission of the head of the competent Immigration Control Office (hereinafter referred to as the\u201chead of office\u201d) or the head of the competent branch office of the Immigration Control Office (hereinafter referred to as the\u201chead of branch office\u201d).

(2) When the national has undergone the inspection as referred to in paragraph (1), he shall hold an effective entry visa issued by the country of destination or transit, except in case where he departs for a country in which he is exempted from obtaining an entry visa under an agreement between the Republic of Korea and the country concerned, or the immigration control official recognizes that a visa is not required.

subparagraphs from departing from the Republic of Korea:
1.A person whose departure is deemed to be undue for a criminal investigation;
2.A person who is pending in a criminal trial;
3.A person whose penal servitude or imprisonment penalty has not yet completed;

5.A person who has not paid the national tax, customs or local tax not less than the amount as stipulated by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice by the deadline of payment without any justifiable reasons; and

6.Other persons corresponding to subparagraphs 1 through 5 and whose departure is deemed by the Ordinance of the Ministry of Justice to be undue, as there exist some concerns over damaging the interest, public safety or economic order of the Republic of Korea.

person whose departure is prohibited under Article 4 (1).
(2) If the immigration control official finds a national\u2019s forged or altered passport or seaman\u2019s
identification paper, he may withdraw and have the custody of it.

(1) If a national desires to enter the Republic of Korea from an area outside the Republic of Korea (hereinafter referred to as\u201centry\u201d), he shall hold a valid passport, and undergo an entry inspection conducted by an immigration control official at the entry and departure port through which he may enter the Republic of Korea: Provided, That if it is impossible to enter the Republic of Korea through the entry and departure port for any inevitable reason, he may enter after undergoing the entry inspection conducted by the immigration control official at a place other than the entry and departure port with the permission of the head of office or branch office.

(2) If a national desires to enter the Republic of Korea without holding a valid passport due to loss of it or for any other reason, the immigration control official may allow him to enter through a procedure of confirmation.

1.A person who obtains the permission of reentry or who is exempted from the permission of reentry, and who enters the country before the period of such a permission or exemption expires;

2.A person who is a national of the country which has concluded an agreement on the waver of visa with the Republic of Korea, and who becomes the object of exemption under the convention; and

3.A person who enters the Republic of Korea for the international friendship, sightseeing or interest of the Republic of Korea, etc., and who has separately obtained the permission of entry under the conditions as prescribed by the Presidential Decree; and

(3) If it is deemed necessary for the maintenance of public order or the interest of the Republic of Korea, the Minister of Justice may temporarily suspend the application of the Visa Exemption Convention to those who fall under paragraph (2) 2.