KOREAN-AMERICAN DUAL CITIZENSHIP SUMMARY
By Jong-Joon Chun
Attorney
The Korean dual citizenship law overreaches and sparks outrage among KoreanAmericans and international couples in the U.S. According to the Korean PersonalPrinciple: A child is considered a dual citizen of South Korea if one parent is aKorean national at the time of the child’s birth regardless of where the child wasborn and whether he or she was registered in the Korean Family Registry.
Prior to 1998, if your father was a Korean national you obtained Korean citizenshipregardless of where you were born. However, if you never registered your birth
your Korean citizenship was automatically revoked if you did not choose yourKorean nationality. In 1998, Korea changed the law so that any child born to either
a Korean father or a Korean mother would obtain Korean citizenship.
In 2005, the South Korean National Assembly revised the Korean Nationality Law toprevent draft dodgers and discourage anchor babies born in other countries.
However, this law unfairly includes males who were born outside of South Korea
without registering their birth and have no intention of ever living in South Korea.
According to the revised 2005 law,males born outside of South Korea have a duty torenounce their South Korean citizenship by March 31stof the year they turn 18 even
if their birth was never registered with the Korean government. If you do not fulfill
your duty to renounce by the deadline, the law imposes Korean military duty on you.
If that occurs, you cannot renounce your citizenship until you turn 38 years old,
unless you complete your military duties before then.
This law retroactively applied to men born after May 24, 1983, if their father was aKorean national at the time of their birth. It is unconstitutional because thisretroactive application did not give proper notice to those affected and imposed theduty of military service on individuals who hold no rights in the country.
For women born to a Korean father after May 5, 1988, they become a dual citizen if
they do not renounce their citizenship by age 22. Women born after June 13, 1998,
to either a Korean father or a Korean mother must renounce their citizenship by age
22.
Most Koreans living around the world are not aware of this law. Most of them havemissed this deadline and question why they have a duty to renounce. To renounce
your citizenship, you must first register your birth with the Korean government.
Once registered, you may then begin the renunciation process. This may take overone year and requires more than fifteen (15) pieces of documentation, which isunduly burdensome.
As of 2022, if you miss the due date (March 31st of the year you turn 18), you may
apply for an exceptional nationality revocation permit through the Ministry ofJustice. To do so, you must first register your birth with the Korean government andsubmit the required documentation for renunciation. In addition, you must also
show:(1) proof of justifiable reasons for missing the due date;(2) significant restrictions or disadvantages in obtaining employment due toyour dual citizenship; and(3) the military duty performance would be unfair in light of yourcircumstances.
This is an even more complicated process and if you are not able to show sufficientdamage/harm, you will likely be denied. The new system is not a remedy but
remains a restriction on Korean Americans.
The process causes confusion and frustration since the children are disadvantaged
when applying for certain jobs such as with the U.S. federal government or U.S.
military. For example, the application for a U.S. Navy Nuclear Submarine position
specifically states that “No Dual Citizens can apply.” Another example is theapplication for Fulbright Scholarships sponsored by the U.S. State Department. It
clearly states that if you want to apply to study in South Korea under the scholarship,
you cannot be a Korean dual citizen.
Not only does it cause problems with federal employment, but also in the private
sector as well. Certain private sector jobs require U.S. security clearance. When
applying for a security clearance, there is a specific question asking whether you
have ever held dual citizenship with another country. Second generation
KoreanAmericans are now struggling as to how to answer that question since they
were not aware that they held dual citizenship from birth.
Additionally, when visiting Korea dual citizens must use a Korean passport. A
Korean American dual citizen would not be eligible for an international visa if theywanted to apply for a job/internship or wish to study in Korea. Many scholarships
offered to international students are also not available for dual citizens (e.g.,Fulbright).
As described above, the Korean nationality law is unconstitutional and places
extremely burdensome requirements on Korean Americans. Requiring those born
outside of South Korea to first register their birth with the Korean Family Registryleaves evidence of “the tag of dual citizenship.” American fathers/mothers have noknowledge of this Korean nationality law and never receive any notice from theKorean government about renunciation.

To make matters worse, when these men and women have their own children, theirchildren will be considered Korean nationals subject to the same concerns. The
Korean nationality law has created an unnecessary chain of Korean dual citizenship.
This Korean law is unfair and unconstitutional, and that is why it is important toeducate the American public on implications of the Korean Nationality
Act.Therefore, the Korean government should return to the automatic revocation
system they had in previously had in place.