Govt. seeks nullifying passports of 36 Koreans staying in Libya

Govt. seeks nullifying passports of 36 Koreans staying in Libya. September. 18, 2018 08:22. by Na-Ri Shin journari@donga.com.
It has been released on Monday that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has taken some first steps to annul passports of Korean citizens who stay in Libya, which is currently in a stage of national emergency. It is seen as the first-ever occasion where the government has initiated more stringent measures of making passports null than issuing a travel warning or a withdrawal recommendation.

Multiple government sources said that a total of 36 Korean nationals across Libya are at risk of their passports invalidated next month. Even amid ever-increasing blood-shed military conflicts of armed forces, the remaining Korean citizens have stayed across Libya to date against the government’s warnings, which has made Seoul take a bold approach of nullifying their passports. The government considers taking further steps of evacuating them in forced manner in the event that they still opt to continue their stay even with a nullified passport.

Meanwhile, a Korean man is still in detention, who was caught early July by a regional armed forces group. The Korean government has made a behind-the-scenes effort to bring him back home, but faced with difficulties collaborating with its Libyan counterpart.

The Article 17 of the Passport Act stipulates that the foreign affairs minister may limit any national from using his/her passport or making a visit or stay in the event that any need arises to prohibit a visit or stay of a particular nation or a region on account of any natural disaster, upheaval, riot or terrorist act.