Naturalization Tests Frustrate 50,000 Foreigners
By Park Chung-a
Staff Reporter
The number of foreigners who apply for naturalization has surpassed 50,000 a year, the Ministry of Justice said and many applicants said they face inconveniences in delays in taking examinations to be eligible to become Korean citizens.
Every week, the test for naturalization takes place for 40 minutes for about a hundred of foreigners. Due to the rise in the number of applicants, applicants must wait for more than two years to take the test.
Naturalization tests are given to foreigners who have lived here for more than five years. One can become a naturalized Korean citizen by scoring more than 60 out of 100 points on the test.
Most of the questions are about Korean language, history and common knowledge. There are 20 questions on the exam _ 10 questions requiring written answers and another 10 questions in selecting objective answers.
Questions include filling in blank spaces of the Korean national anthem and writing down orders of letters in the Korean dictionary. Many applicants said it is hard for them to prepare for the exam as questions cover a wide variety of areas. In addition, unlike other advanced countries, there are no official studying guides or materials published for examinees.
``It was hard to answer questions on environment and cars as I was not prepared for it. I hope there are easy guides on naturalization tests,'' said Ying Ying, a Chinese woman who failed the exam.
Examinees can only prepare for the exam based on advice from previous examinees.
Examinees also point out that the level of the exam is not consistent.
Park No-ja, a Korean studies professor and a Korean naturalized citizen of Russian origin, said that questions are sometimes difficult to answer. He said even a major in Korean studies has difficulty in answering questions on Korean legal terminology and literature.
Moon Min, a vice chairman of the Association of Naturalized Citizens, said that there are many questions which look difficult even for Koreans.
Currently, only seven people at the Ministry of Justice are in charge of naturalization of foreigners and updating and changing questions on the exam based on school textbooks. Currently there are no official guidelines on the examinations.