The Seoul Administrative Court ruled Tuesday that the Ministry of Justice can revoke the South Korean citizenship granted to a foreign immigrant if it finds the person married to more than one spouse -- whether by legal marriage or common law marriage -- even after granting citizenship.

A man obtained South Korean citizenship in 2014 after marrying a Korean national in 2004. But upon learning of the man’s common law marriage in his home country in 2009, the Justice Ministry canceled his Korean citizenship because the man had “unlawfully” gained South Korean citizenship. Bigamy is illegal in South Korea.

The man disagreed, saying he had not done anything illegal because his country recognizes polygamy, and he did not register the marriage with the government there. He added he maintained his marriage long enough before he divorced his Korean wife after naturalization.

The court ruled the man has a common law marriage in his home country and his “two marriages” disqualified him from Korean citizenship.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)