By Yi Whan-woo
One hundred and forty-five children of Korean diplomats hold dual citizenship, a lawmaker claimed Monday, citing the latest data from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The revelation comes amid public sentiment against bureaucrats, who are required to have a higher sense of ethics, for allowing their children to obtain two passports. Although it is not illegal, dual citizenship has often been exploited by the haves in avoiding military service and other duties required of Korean citizens and thus deepening the social rift.
“The data, compiled in July, showed that the 146 children are dual citizens of 12 countries,” Rep. Park Joo-sun of the minor opposition People’s Party said in a press release.
Park serves as a deputy National Assembly speaker and also a member of the Assembly’s Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee.
Besides having Korean citizenship, 86 percent, or 125 of the 146, hold citizenship in the U.S., three each in Canada, Russia, Mexico and Japan, two in Brazil, one each in Venezuela, Uruguay, Colombia, Poland, Costa Rica and France.
The 146 include 11 children of chiefs of diplomatic missions abroad, such as ambassadors and consuls general. The 11 were all U.S. citizens.
Park said this can be problematic, citing Article 5 of the Law on Duties and Responsibilities of Diplomats.
It states that a diplomat should be responsible for protecting and expanding the national interest, promoting economic, cultural and other exchanges with foreign countries and protecting Korean nationals abroad. “There have been concerns that having children with dual citizenship might obstruct the diplomats from doing their best for national interests,” Park said.
He raised a question about the reason behind the high percentage of dual U.S. citizens.
“Because diplomats frequently work abroad, there are high possibilities their children could be born there and thus hold dual citizenship. Still, it is insufficient to explain why many of their children have U.S. citizenship,” Park said. “It can only be explained because their parents wanted their children to become citizens of the world’s most powerful country and intentionally gave birth to them in the U.S.”
In particular, Park called on ambassadors and consuls general to have a higher sense of patriotism, saying, “They represent Korea in the countries where they respectively serve.” “The fact that we live in the era of globalization does not exempt them from paying special attention in upholding the spirit of patriotism. They should refrain from letting their children acquire dual citizenship if they want to avoid disputes questioning their patriotism,” he said.
Shin Yul, a professor of political science at Myongji University, voiced a similar view.
“I understand that parents want to give the best to their children, but this is something different if they are civil servants who work for the people and understand public sentiment,” he said.
Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha was among President Moon Jae-in’s picks for a top government job and faced criticism at her parliamentary confirmation hearings for having children with U.S. citizenship.
Some nominees including Kang made it through but others did not.
Kang, a former senior U.N. official, admitted that her eldest daughter, 34, was born and raised in the U.S. She said she would try to convince her daughter to renounce her U.S. citizenship and claim her Korean one.