Citizenship Issue of Korean-Chinese

“Reinstatement of citizenship” of Korean-Chinese has recently surged as a big social issue. About 5,000 ethnic Koreans submitted applications for the reinstatement of their Korean nationality to evade deportation after the work permit system for foreigners went in effect, and they claim that they are facing discrimination in the process of reinstatement of their nationality compared to ethnic Koreans from other regions and foreigners.

With the government being hesitant to suggest a clear solution, worrying about the possible tension with the Chinese government and the confusion in the labor market, on December 9 a Korean-Chinese who tried to avoid deportation died from the cold in the downtown Seoul, and a group of ethnic Koreans who went back to China after finishing their applications for acquiring Korean citizenships were arrested by Chinese authorities.

Barriers of reinstatement of citizenship—The Korean-Chinese talk about their more difficult situations of gaining citizenship compared to the Korean-American or Korean-Japanese due to the discriminatory policy of the Korean government.

The Ministry of Justice assigns the people who were born before October 1, 1949, the foundation day of the People’s Republic of China, as subjects of reinstatement for citizenship, and subjects of naturalization, legal foreign status, for people who were born after that date.

Korean-Chinese can summit the application for reinstatement of citizenship only in Korea. This is a big difference from Korean-Americans and Korean-Japanese who can apply in Korean embassies and consulates abroad. Also, Korean-Chinese have to take a preliminary examination before the main examination process, which is not found for other ethnic Koreans abroad.

The Korean-Chinese who were born after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China belong to the category of “quick naturalization,” which is a simple process compared to “general naturalization.”

However, the subjects of “quick naturalization” should stay in Korea at least more than three years to gain the qualification for application. This means that most of the Korean-Chinese who temporarily visit their relatives with short-term travel visa with a 90-day limit cannot receive benefits. The majority of Korean- Chinese who gained Korean nationalities are females who reinstated their citizenship after two years of their marital status as wives to Korean males.

Article 3, clause 4 in the Korean Nationality Act, “The applicants should prove their abilities to sustain their lives by submitting the remainder of their bank accounts over 30 millions won or the document of proving their work status,” is a discriminatory barrier again naturalization. According to Article 3 in the Korean Nationality Act, the subjects of quick naturalization should submit documents proving their parents nationality such as the family register. However, many families lost their documents during the Korean War. Descendents of North Korea can hardly prepare the requested documents to step the naturalization process.

“We have never given up the Korean citizenship. Foreigners and Chinese emigrants even gain citizenship here and live well, but we have been treated worse than Chinese emigrants,” claimed the Korean-Chinese.

The Government’s dilemma-- the government considers the citizenship issue of the Korean-Chinese as a hot potato.

If the government reinstates the citizenship of all Korean-Chinese (about two million), diplomatic conflicts will definitely arise since the Korean-Chinese have to renounce their Chinese nationality. And, side effects like the confusion in the labor market can take place by the influx of Korean-Chinese workers to Korea. Many Korean laborers who work as a means of living will lose their jobs.

According to senior researcher Yoo Gil-sang at the Korea Labor Institute, “It is highly likely that if the Korean-Chinese enter South Korea, they will take up most of the Korean construction and service fields, occupied by most of the low-income family supporters.”

Moon Hwa-chun, the director of Inquiry 3 Department at the Seoul Immigration Office said, “ If the government grants citizenship to Korean-Chinese, hundreds of thousands of Korean-Chinese will rush to South Korea. It’s not proper to take an emotional approach only to the issue of reinstatement of citizenship.”

“It would be helpful for the nation if the Korean-Chinese who are fluent in Korean and have received quality education work at the small and medium enterprises suffering from a shortage of workforce,” said Kwon Yeong-jun, the chairman of Policy Negation Council in the Citizens Coalition for Economic Justice.

tesomiom@donga.com