Court: Seoul Administrative Court
Case: 2025구합54991
Decision Date: December 18, 2025


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Key Facts

A Korean citizen (identified as Mr. Lee) filed a lawsuit seeking to change the Romanized spelling of his surname on his passport from “LEE” to “YI.”

His first and second passports were issued with the spelling “LEE.”

In 2024, he applied at a local passport office to change the spelling to “YI.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Korea rejected the request, stating that it did not meet the legally recognized grounds for changing the Romanized name on a passport.



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Plaintiff’s Arguments

The plaintiff claimed that when his first passport was issued, he had written “YI” on the application.

He alleged that a government official changed the spelling to “LEE” without his consent.

He also argued that:

Since high school, he had used “YI” on documents such as:

Credit cards

Financial records

English proficiency test results

Company ID cards

Military discharge certificate


Because of urgent travel plans, he had no choice but to continue using the passport spelling “LEE.”




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Court’s Decision

The Seoul Administrative Court ruled against the plaintiff, finding the government’s refusal lawful.

Key points from the ruling:

Changing Romanized names on passports is allowed only in limited, exceptional circumstances under the Passport Act enforcement rules.

Passport name spelling is a core identification element used in immigration and border control systems.

If name changes were freely permitted, foreign governments might have difficulty verifying a traveler’s identity, potentially disrupting immigration management.

The court found it unlikely that a government official changed the spelling without the applicant’s consent.

It was more plausible that the official recommended the common spelling “LEE,” which the applicant accepted at the time.


The court concluded that keeping the spelling “LEE” does not cause significant real-world inconvenience.

Other documents using “YI” could be updated and reissued using the passport spelling instead.



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Legal Takeaway

In Korea, changing the Romanized spelling of a name on a passport is strictly limited.

Courts will generally defer to the government unless:

There is clear administrative error, or

The applicant demonstrates serious practical harm from the existing spelling.


Administrative convenience and international identity verification are considered strong policy reasons for limiting such changes.

Article: https://www.lawtimes.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=217322