Im going to korea during the summer of 2008
and im awfully close to the age of being reeled
into the army...
my parents say the korean army might make me
stay there... Alright Duder, You need to officially renounce your Korean citizenship in order to not be drafted. This may or may not have happened for you already. Why you are an American matters.
If you have not officially renounced the your Korean citizenship the US Government will not protect you. I currently work with two guys that were conscripted from the US. One is straight up Korean who was going to school in Minnesota when his notice came up so he flew back to do his time. The second is a natural born US citizen whose parents also registered him in Korea and he got 'caught'.
Now, if you became naturalized to the US, you are safe. But if you were born in the US you can get snagged.
Here is the info from the US State Department. The link is below.
"DUAL NATIONALITY: The Government of the Republic of Korea does not recognize dual citizenship. An individual is a citizen of the Republic of Korea if his or her name appears on the Korean Family Census Register. The Korean Government requires persons with a claim to dual citizenship to choose or reject Korean nationality by December 31 of the year the individual turns 21 years old.
A person鈥檚 name is not automatically removed from the Korean Family Census Register simply because he or she is an American citizen. It is the obligation of an American citizen to inform the Korean government of his or her American citizenship for the purposes of removing his or her name from the Korean Family Census Register.
Any male whose name appears on the Korean Family Census Register must fulfill his two-year military obligation unless he has surrendered his Korean nationality before March 30 of the year he turns 18 years old. An American male in this situation must notify Korean authorities of his parents鈥?immigration status, renounce his Korean citizenship, and remove his name from the Korean Family Census Register. If an American male fails to remove his name from the Korean Family Census Register, Korean authorities may require that he serve in the Korean military if he lives in Korea or visits Korea during conscription age (18 to 35 years of age).
Under a law that went into effect on May 26, 2005, men who have dual citizenship may be required to serve in the military before they can give up their Korean citizenship. Women are not required to serve in the military.
The new law affects American men of Korean descent in different ways.
A Korean male born in Korea who emigrates to the U.S. and becomes a naturalized American citizen loses his Korean citizenship and therefore has no military obligations in Korea.
A male who was born in the U.S. whose Korean parents were U.S. citizens at the time of his birth does not have Korean military obligations.
A male who was born in the U.S. whose name is on the Korean Family Census Register and whose parents were not American citizens at the time of his birth but immigrated to and live in the U.S. is not obligated to serve in the Korean military if he renounces his Korean citizenship prior to March 30 of the year he turns 18 years of age.
A male who was born in the U.S. and is on the Korean Family Census Register, whose Korean citizen parents lived only temporarily outside Korea, may not renounce his Korean citizenship until he completes his service in the Korean military.
A U.S. citizen male who was born in and lives in Korea and is on the Korean Family Census Register may not renounce his Korean citizenship until he serves in the Korean military.
After fulfilling his military service, a dual national has two years to choose his nationality before he loses his Korean citizenship.
There have been several instances in which young American men of Korean descent -- who were born in and lived all of their lives in the United States -- arrived in Korea as tourists only to be drafted into the Republic of Korea army. At least two of these cases involved individuals whose names had been recorded on the Korean Family Census Register without their knowledge.
U.S. military members should contact the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Legal Office prior to making plans to travel to Korea, whether for official or personal purposes. Direct contact is Mr. Hyun S. Kim, DSN (315) 738-7175, commercial (82-2) 7918-7175, e-mail hyun.s.kim1@korea.army.mil.
For additional information, consult the Embassy of Korea's website under the Consulate Service's "Other Information" at http://www.koreaembassyusa.org/ and review our Dual Nationality flyer. " I think you must apply for both. You can also talk to a Lawyer. If I were you I would listen to my parents advice. talk to a military recruiter in the U. S. air force ,army etc. In Korea, there is no such thing as dual nationality. If you have an American passport, then according to the authorities there, you are an American national. So I don't think you would have to do military service in the Korean Army. You would need to change your nationality to Korean before being asked to serve in their army.
If you are still concerned though I suggest that you speak to an immigration lawyer or consular official at the embassy. Neither. There's no draft in the American. As long as you retain an American passport while visiting Korea, you're safe. Once you become an American citizen you are no longer a natural citizen in your native country. Me and my mother came here when I was 3 months old from South Korea. Since my father was an American citizen in the army when I was born in Seoul, I am a citizen of South Korea & the U.S. (dual citizenship) But my mom is now an American citizen and when she goes to visit our family she has to get a visa. So no, I don't think they'll try to keep you there and join the army. If you are a US citizen traveling with a US passport, you are not going to Korean army especially if your entire family lives in America.
However, if your parents are still Korean citizens living in Korea, things can be a little bit different.
You are not able to stay in Korea more than 6 months if your immediate family still lives in Korea, otherwise you are reeled into Korean army.
Also, you are not allowed to make money(get a job) here unless you complete military service in Korea.
Below link is a better answer but it's written in Korean. If you are unable to understand Hangul, ask your parents what this means.
http://kin.naver.com/detail/detail.php?d...
I saw a similar question here on yahoo answer but I can't find it right now. Sorry! Korean Army is open to Korean, and It's quite exclusive.
For example, Korean army conscripts only Korea citizen
and 'pure Korean.'<-- It tells well how exclusive Korean army is.....I dont like that.
Threfore, you dont need to worry about that According to the US State Department, an American with Korean nationality must renounce his Korean residency otherwise he may be draged off to the military.
And to boot: "Under a law that went into effect on May 26, 2005, men who have dual citizenship may be required to serve in the military before they can give up their Korean citizenship."
So yeah, it appears you have to renounce your Korean citizenship before you head to Korea. There's more info from the state department on the subject. if you have US citizen ship, you are a US citizen, meaning you dont have to serve in the KOREAN army.
if you ahve a KORAN citizen, you have to serve. but since you are a US citizen you do not, even if you live in korea. unless you apply to get korean citizenship and give up your US one. Do you have dual citizenship? If you are a US citizen and we have a draft then you must serve in our army. I am not sure about Korea, but if I am correct, they can't make you serve in the army if you no longer have citizenship there. So if they tried to make you stay you should go to the American consulate if your an American citizen. There's some truth to what Jawen is saying, but with US citizenship you can avoid it.
There are some penalties to this however. As a male who has not served in the military, you won't be able to integrate into Korean society again, and you more or less lose your citizenship. You won't be able to own property or work there, have access to services that your..'korean social security number' would normally allow you to do. If you don't need these things in the future, then you're probably ok. But you will never be considered Korean by other Koreans (yeah, it sucks, but hey, it's a trade off, eh?) Even Korean Koreans think that while mil. service is necessary, it 's hard, it sucks.
Frankly, if your English is perfect, you probably will have to spend your military service doing library work or something fairly low stress. Pay is crap. Boom Blatz's answer is right on, read it and read it again. I know someone who was born (and raised) in the u.s. to korean immigrant parents and whose name was added to the korean registry without his knowledge. he went over to korea to work, got drafted, attempted to enlist in the u.s. army to avoid it, but was grabbed at immigration at the airport in korea when he tried to board his flight to boot camp in the u.s. you don't have to serve in the u.s. army (yet--keep an eye on those politicians, though), but don't expect that voluntarily signing up will be an option to avoid serving in the korean army if you get drafted while in korea, either.
there is paperwork you can fill out (somewhere) to get stuff sorted legally before you go so that it won't happen to you. MAKE SURE YOU GET IT ALL DONE BEFORE YOU GO TO KOREA or you, too, may be in for two years of 'character building'. i'm not sure, but i think u.s. prisoners may get paid more per day for work than regular korean soldiers. Your parents are right.
If you are on the family registry in Korea, you are a Korean citizen and thus need to serve in the Korean military. (They won't make you stay there. Only 2-3 years...not forever...)
If the U.S. has a draft, you could also be drafted into the U.S. military. That is one of the drawbacks of having a dual citizenship.
Also see Boom Blatz's response. He has already supplied you most of the information you will need.
All that is left is asking your parents if you are on the family registry and then you know based on your age what you need to do and what to expect.. |
