South Korea’s proposed citizenship law overhaul faces anti-China backlash
- The measure called for easing the pathway to citizenship for children born to long-term foreign residents, by simply notifying the justice ministry
- A presidential petition opposing the plan has gathered over 300,000 signatures as negative views of China among Koreans hit historic highs
A measure proposed by the Ministry of Justice – first made public in April – called for easing the pathway to citizenship for children born to long-term foreign residents, by simply notifying the ministry.
A presidential petition opposing the revision has gathered over 300,000 signatures. The chat room of an online hearing held to discuss the proposal in May was overwhelmed with expletive-laced complaints by the tens of thousands of viewers.
The justice ministry has said it is still taking into account public opinion and the advice of experts before submitting the proposal to the Ministry of Government Legislation.
“Given the strong backlash, I would say the ministry has already lost much of the momentum to push ahead with the proposal,” said Jang Yun-mi, a lawyer who specialises in issues related to children.
The controversy highlights the challenges South Korea faces as it seeks to ensure a robust future population in the face of declining birth rates and rapidly ageing workers, and the potential policy implications of increasingly negative views of China, its biggest trading partner.
Data from last year suggests only about 3,930 people would be eligible under the rule change, but the fact that 3,725 of them were of Chinese heritage prompted much of the criticism.
03:04
Island home to only four children: Nokdo underscores South Korean population crisis
Among immigrant communities, the proposed measures are not seen as worth the backlash, said Kim Yong-phil, editor-in-chief of E Korea World, a local newspaper for Chinese-Koreans.
“Anti-Chinese people could use this issue as a pretext to attack Chinese-Koreans,” he said.
Naturalisation was rare in South Korea until the early 2000s – just 33 foreigners gained South Korean citizenship in 2000, for example – but rose to nearly 14,000 last year, immigration data show.
The latest proposal is needed to encourage future workers to stay by allowing them to foster a South Korean identity from an early age and stably get assimilated into society, the justice ministry said in a statement.
Kim Yong-seon, who came from China in 2004 to study and was naturalised in 2014, said the amendment is useful as it provides more options for immigrants, but that the more pressing matter is making it easier for adults to become citizens.
“Over the past few years, the requirements for permanent residency and citizenship have only got harder,” he said, citing changes that require high amounts of income or assets.
Like most Chinese nationals living in South Korea, Kim is ethnic Korean – his grandfather migrated to China a century ago.
More than 70 per cent of the 865,000 Chinese nationals living in South Korea are of Korean descent, according to immigration data.
“Some Chinese people are already committing a ‘cultural fraud’ against the whole world by making unreasonable claims that kimchi and hanbok are also Chinese,” opposition People’s Party chairman Ahn Cheol-soo said.
“If left as is, it will lead to a ‘cultural invasion’ in which they claim that even Korea’s priceless culture is theirs.”
