A court has ruled that Kim A-hyun, a social activist known by the name Haecho, must surrender a passport that was invalidated after an attempt to enter the Gaza Strip in Palestine, a designated travel-ban zone.
The 12th Administrative Division of the Seoul Administrative Court ruled against Kim on the afternoon of the 27th in a suit filed against the foreign minister seeking to overturn the order to surrender the passport. Kim objected to the decision, calling it "a ruling that condones the foreign ministry's arbitrary administration."
The court held that while Kim's claim to freedom of action and movement is important, state action to protect the life and physical safety of a citizen is also legitimate. As an administrative body charged with protecting basic rights including the right to life, the state must be allowed to issue a passport surrender order when necessary, the court said.
"The plaintiff's humanitarian convictions and freedom of action must be respected, but the state also has a duty under Article 10 of the Constitution to protect the life and physical safety of its citizens," the court said. "If a specific likelihood of harm to safety can be foreseen, it is only proper that the state carry out that duty of protection."
After the hearing, Kim pushed back, saying: "I don't understand this. What is this safety that the foreign ministry, the court and the South Korean government keep talking about?"
Kwon Young-kook, leader of the Justice Party, also criticized the decision. "A robbery and a killing happen next door, and you shout 'Robbery! Murder!' to point out what is wrong — and suddenly you are told it is disorderly noise, that you have no such freedom, and to keep quiet. That is what this ruling says," Kwon said. "Israel's slaughter of Palestinians is an international issue, and it also runs counter to the spirit of the South Korean Constitution, which renounces wars of aggression," Kwon added. "The part of the ruling that makes the least sense is the claim that an individual act of conscience somehow harms national security."
In October last year, Kim was seized by the Israeli military while heading for the Gaza Strip, a travel-ban zone, and was held in a local prison. Kim was released two days after being detained, and the foreign ministry then ordered the passport surrendered.
