Proof of Military Service Abroad Made Easier... 'Apostille' Issued Online

Sample of Online Apostille Certificate (Provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that, in collaboration with the Military Manpower Administration, it will implement a service starting on the 25th that allows immediate online issuance of Apostille certificates for military service certificates. An Apostille serves as a "certificate" confirming that a document was legitimately issued by the government of the issuing country.

Accordingly, our citizens can obtain a military service certificate through the Military Manpower Administration and then easily issue an Apostille certificate by visiting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' e-Apostille website.

With the availability of online Apostille issuance for military service certificates, the preparation process for proving military service when applying for overseas visas or expanding abroad will be simplified, thereby reducing the economic and time burdens on our citizens preparing for overseas activities.

The number of English military service certificates issued for overseas use has been increasing annually: approximately 13,900 in 2017, 15,500 in 2018, and 20,300 in 2019.

So far, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued Apostille certificates since joining the convention abolishing the requirement for authentication of foreign public documents in 2007 to facilitate the overseas use of Korean official documents. As part of government innovation, since 2016, it has operated the e-Apostille website, which allows immediate online issuance of Apostille certificates.

The documents eligible for e-Apostille issuance include 27 types such as family relation certificates, resident registration certificates, criminal and investigation records, and enrollment certificates for elementary, middle, and high schools.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained, "We plan to continue efforts to improve public services that our citizens can feel by continuously expanding the range of documents eligible for online Apostille issuance."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.