[2023 National Audit] Passport Applications Followed by 'Disappearance'... 1.6 Billion Won 'Evaporated' Over 5 Years

It has been revealed that more than 20,000 passports were discarded in the past five years after being issued but not collected for over six months.

According to data submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and analyzed by Hwang Hee, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, the number of passports discarded due to non-collection in the past five years reached 20,973.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hwang Hee is giving a briefing on the utilization plan for the national donation of Lee Kun-hee's collection at the Seoul Government Complex Annex in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 7th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Under the current Passport Act, if the applicant does not collect the passport within six months from the date of issuance, the passport becomes invalid, and invalid passports are sent to the Korea Minting and Security Printing Corporation for disposal.

The number of cases where passports lost validity due to non-collection was 4,991 in 2018, 4,930 in 2019, and 4,788 in 2020, then sharply decreased to 1,201 in 2021 and 1,293 last year, but surged to 3,770 by September this year.

In particular, passports that remain uncollected for more than six months are discarded without ever being used, which Hwang pointed out as not only a personal loss but also an administrative and financial waste. The issuance fee that applicants must pay to obtain one passport is 53,000 KRW (for a regular multiple-entry passport), and the production cost is 24,454 KRW. Considering both the production cost and issuance fee, over 1.6 billion KRW has been wasted in the past five years.

Hwang said, "Despite the passport issuance fee being 53,000 KRW, which is a considerable financial burden, the number of passports discarded after not being collected for more than six months is increasing again. It is necessary to strengthen guidance for those who do not collect their passports and for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and local governments to cooperate in identifying the reasons for non-collection to minimize administrative and financial waste."

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