Kenyan marathoner awarded South Korean citizenship

By Ko Dong-hwan

Kenyan marathoner Wilson Loyanae Erupe reaches the finish line in the Seoul International Marathon in March 2012, setting a personal best time. Korea Times file.

The Ministry of Justice has selected Kenyan marathoner Wilson Loyanae Erupe and four other foreigners to be naturalized as South Korean citizens, acknowledging each of their exceptional talents in different professional fields.

Twenty-three civic experts in the fields of science, business and athletics and Korea Immigration Service Commissioner Cha Gyu-geun formed the ministry's nationality audit committee. They selected earlier this month Erupe from the athletic field and four others ― whose names were withheld by to protect their privacy ― from semiconductor manufacturing, traffic logistics engineering, telecommunication repeaters and German music.

Erupe is widely known in Korea for his athletic performances. He won the Gyeongju International Marathon in 2011, 2012 and 2015 and the Seoul International Marathon in 2012, 2015, 2016 and 2018. His best time in Korean events is 2:05:13 in Seoul in 2012. Lee Bong-ju holds the record for Korean athletes with 2:07:20 in 2000.

The Kenyan is also known for failing an out-of-competition doping test in 2012 and the International Association of Athletics Federations banned him from international events for two years. He was also banned from representing Korea for three years after the ban expired, according to Korea Olympic Committee (KOC) rules.

The regulation was discarded in a KOC revision in January 2017 but because of the doping offence, he could not pass committee and KOC screenings for naturalization.

In July this year, the KOC wrote a letter of recommendation encouraging the ministry to allow him to be naturalized “in recognition of his outstanding talent.”

Erupe with South Chungcheong Provincial county of Cheongyang governor Lee Seok-hwa after signing a second contract with the county in June 2016. Korea Times file

The ministry responded positively, basing on a Korean Nationality Act clause that states naturalization considers “people with distinctive talents in specific fields and prospects of contributing to national development.”

Erupe joined the South Chungcheong Province Sports Council's Athletics Club in 2015. Following Gyeongju International Marathon in October the same year, he applied for Korean citizenship, saying, “My goal is to win an Olympic gold medal for Korea.”

The sports council and industry insiders had said Erupe's naturalization and representing Korea at the Rio Olympics in 2016 would boost Korean national athletes. But Korean athletic figures said there were no clear reasons to recruit him as a national athlete and that inviting him would not help Korean national athletes at all.

The dissenting voices, including former Olympic gold medalist marathoner Hwang Young-jo, claimed the council was rather blinded by its hope of winning medals in a short period than nurturing Korean athletes.

The basic naturalization process begins with an application at an immigration office. The committee selects candidates, holds interviews and approves naturalization for applicants who meet the criteria.

After one year, the naturalized foreigners can sign an “agreement of non-exertion of foreign nationalities,” which enables them to hold dual citizenship. The measure, introduced in 2011, has led to the naturalization of 128 foreigners as of April this year.

Scientific scholars accounted for most naturalized citizens with 69, followed by athletes with 26 and humanity scholars 13. Among the athletes, there were 10 ice hockey players followed by basketball and biathlon with four.