Do US-ROK Dual Citizens Have to Complete Their Mandatory Military Service in South Korea?
We had an interesting post in the Open Thread about the mandatory service military obligation for dual US-ROK male citizens. This posting from Ask A Korean highlights what the issue is about:
The unintended consequence of the 2010 law that, all of a sudden, it created a large number of Korean dual citizenship holders who did not even know that they were dual citizens. If you are a draft-eligible age, and you realized only recently that you were in fact a dual citizen, you cannot even renounce your Korean citizenship because of the 2005 law. The result: we have a messed up situation in which diaspora Koreans, who may have never visited Korea and not speak a lick of Korean, may be draft eligible for Korean military. He can enter Korea freely, but may get stopped at the airport on his way out of Korea, like all other draft-eligible male Korean citizens. [Ask A Korean]
Someone who is a dual citizen definitely faces the possibility of getting detained at the airport in South Korea because they have not done their mandatory military service. I had to go deep into the ROK Drop archives to find this, but there have been examples of dual US-ROK citizens being detained at the airport in Korea despite being enlisted in the US military:
The Defense Ministry and the Military Manpower Administration may have to wait for years before they can get their hands on two Koreans who violated the military service law by enlisting in the U.S. Army.
The two Koreans aged 21 and 22 who have U.S. citizenship and residence respectively but retain their Korean nationality volunteered for the U.S. Army without performing their mandatory military service here, the MMA said Friday. Both were supposed to join the Korean armed forces in 2004 but both enlisted with U.S, forces instead. One instead went with them to Germany and both are now ironically with the U.S. Forces Korea as privates first class. (…)
The first came to Korea on leave last June, and the travel ban stopped him from returning to his unit in Germany. He was indicted here the same month but the indictment was suspended because he serves in the U.S. military. He then transferred to the USFK. The MMA says it will make both of them serve in the Korean forces as well. Article 71 of the Military Service Law says those with dual nationality who violate the law must perform their military duties in Korea before they turn 35.
This dual citizenship issue should definitely be a concern for anyone with male children that may be considered dual citizens. However, there is a way to renounce ROK citizenship at age 18 to ensure that the male child is not detained at the airport to do their mandatory military service in South Korea. Here is the information posted on the US Embassy website for the Republic of Korea on this issue:
All malecitizens of the Republic of Korea (ROK), including dual nationals, have military service responsibilities in accordance with the Korean Constitution and the Military Service Law.
Korea’s Military Manpower Administration is responsible for implementation and enforcement of regulations related to military service responsibilities. The following details related to military service have been provided by Korean officials:
-
Males with multiple citizenships must choose their nationality by March 31 of the year they turn 18. Those who fail to do so are subject to military service obligations.
-
Male ROK nationals who were born in the ROK but later acquire a foreign citizenship automatically lose their ROK citizenship and are no longer subject to Korean military service, whether or not they notify their loss of nationality to the relevant Korean authorities. However, if these individuals did not abide by military service procedures prior to naturalizing, such as obtaining the necessary overseas travel permits, they may be subject to fines, penalties, and/or incarceration upon return to the ROK.
-
All male ROK nationals between the ages 25-37, including dual nationals, must obtain overseas travel permits from the MMA if they have not completed their military service and wish to travel overseas. These permits allow applicants to postpone their military service duty up until the age of 37. Those who lived overseas before age 25, must apply for these permits by January 15 of the year they turn 25. Applications may be made through a Korean embassy or consulate.
-
There are different categories under which dual nationals qualify for an overseas travel permit, with classification determined by factors including parents’ citizenship or residency status, time spent abroad, and time spent in Korea.
-
In cases where an applicant obtained a travel permit based on their parents’ overseas residency status and the parents have now returned to the ROK, the permit can be cancelled and the applicant subject to military service.
-
An overseas travel permit can be cancelled and an applicant subject to military service if an applicant lives in the ROK for at least six months in a period of one year, or has engaged in for-profit activities in the ROK for a total of 60 days or more during a one year period.
This English language Military Manpower Administration website is packed with even more information for those interested in this issue.
It seems the me the ROK government is trying to walk a very careful line of stopping draft dodgers while still being able to give people who are legitimately foreign citizens the opportunity to renounce their Korean citizenship to avoid the mandatory military service obligation.
Had an old co-worker who was still a dual citizen. Supposedly, and from his words, he was allowed time from US military service, to serve his korean service and come back in as if nothing had happened. Do not know how he did it, and doubtful he had reasons to lie about it.
I have a friend who went through something like this. Horrific.
One of the trickier sentences is this one:
blockquote>Males with multiple citizenships must choose their nationality by March 31 of the year they turn 18. Those who fail to do so are subject to military service obligations.
My son turns 18 this upcoming September (** Sep 2018). Does this mean he has to renounce by the end of the month (30 days from now; 31 March 2018), or does he have until next March 31 (13 months from now; 31 March 2019)?
My wife looked up the forms to renounce, and she ended up giving up. She found the form easily enough, but they want info that she doesn’t have. She never had a Korean ID Number as she left Korea at age 11, and the government doesn’t issue it until you’re 19. Some of it had to be filled out with Chinese characters, which she never learned. She never registered our kids, or our marriage with Korea. She did renounce her Korean citizenship when she Naturalized, but now it’s looking like Korea is saying our son is Dual, whether he wants to be or not.
It’s annoying they sprung this on us well after the fact. A good friend of mine is in almost the exact same boat. HIs wife naturalized the same year mine did, 2003. His oldest son is the same age as ours. Neither of us had heard of this until my wife stumbled upon it almost by accident. (My friend’s wife passed a year ago, and she never knew about this. James doesn’t read or speak any Korean, and neither do his sons. I gave him a head’s up, so hopefully he can head anything off before it becomes an international incident.)
His solution is fairly easy: never come back. Or at least not until he’s 40. But my job may bring me back to Korea, and he might want to come out to visit dear old dad. I’d like him to be able to do so, and not find himself doing push-ups to the chants of “Hana, dul, set, net, daseot, yeoseot…”
Thanks for the link, Kevin Kim. I’ll try to get it for my Kindle.
If South Korea is alienated from the US and Japan by North and Chinese agitprop, it may become a much more serious issue…
They’d make perfect KATUSA’a.
Unfortunately, this wise nation seems to like dumping foreign dual nationality speakers right into the ROKA deep end.
I’m reading that book now. He had a lot of bad luck that ended with him in the ROK Army.
It’s been a pretty good read so far.
This is a pretty clever trick.
How about declaring Kim Jong-un a South Korean citizen due to his pure Korean blood and then sending an extradition team to insure he does his mandatory military service.
UN would be cool with that, right?
MTB, I have found Korean government workers to be amazingly helpful in filling out forms… even obscure ones where they had to dig out the Great Big Book of Obscure Form Examples.
If your wife, or a competent proxy in Korea, can go to the main office in charge of this (not the tiny branch in Bumfunk-ri), it can likely be resolved within hours… as there are likely attachment forms that can be substituted for missing information.
There are few problems government can’t solve with more forms.
Good job, government.
I had a question – hopefully someone can answer. I have a cousin who is now 35 years old. He was a Korean citizen (born in Korea)/permanent residence of US up until 5 months ago, when this US citizenship was approved. He did not know that he had to renounce his Korean citizen and now did this 3 months ago. He had already purchased tickets to Korea (by way of Japan first) for travel 11/2. Is he in fact still a dual citizenship holder till the 6 month period that it takes to renounce his ROK citizenship? Will he be detained and forced to join the army? We are wondering if he should cancel his trip.
@Young
None of us are Immigration Lawyers, so take any reply with a grain of salt.
That said, I read Young Jin Chun’s book. It seemed like fate was out to get him. Someone put his name into the “system” without his knowledge, and that flagged him when he was ready to leave. He was also young and looked like the typical college kid about to either do his service or skip out.
Your friend sounds like he is old enough that the “system” would likely skip over him as too old. The range is normally 18-35, so your friend is at the far end of what they want. Most Koreans serve between age 20-22. Graduate High School, do two years in college, two years in the Army, then their final two years in college. It’s been a few months since I read that book, but Young Jun Chun had spent a couple years in college in the States before coming to Korea to work as an English teacher.