’Korea must grant Chinese residents dual citizenship’

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Sat, December 9, 2023 | 17:53

’Korea must grant Chinese residents dual citizenship’

Posted : 2011-12-09 17:26

Updated : 2011-12-09 17:26

“Jajangmyeon,” the local spinoff of Chinese noodles in black bean sauce, has been a staple here for eating out or ordering in. This exemplifies the cultural impact of “hwagyo,” or Chinese expats (“huaqiao” in Chinese), who have been living in Korea for over a century.

Phil Yang

Chinatown developer endorses multiculturalism, human rights

By Lee Hyo-won

“Jajangmyeon,” the local spinoff of Chinese noodles in black bean sauce, has been a staple here for eating out or ordering in. This exemplifies the cultural impact of “hwagyo,” or Chinese expats (“huaqiao” in Chinese), who have been living in Korea for over a century.

Only recently, however, have hwagyo been granted permanent residency — and Phil Yang, a central figure in realizing the legal status for the local Chinese community, is now stepping up to push for their dual citizenship rights. This is a human rights issue, he says, and a matter of Korea’s global standing as a multicultural society.

“I’m Korean, not Chinese, just in case you were wondering,” Yang, a former history professor of Konkuk University and head of a local Chinatown project, said during an interview with The Korea Times.

While studying in California in the late 1980s, he had many Chinese friends and was surprised to notice there was no Chinatown in Korea. The chairman of CKT Development also noticed the lack of proper concepts or terms for ethnic minorities at the time, and moreover, a legal status for such groups.

When he later became involved with building a Chinatown in Korea, he believed it was more important to sort out immigration laws. “The Chinese are an integral part of our culture but they have no legal status. It’s a very sad story, and I felt it was wrong.”

He believed, furthermore, that this pointed to a larger social issue.

“This was not just a problem for the Chinese but a matter of Korean society going toward an open society,” Yang said, such as escaping the traps of national protectionism and building stronger ties with an emerging economic power. Moreover, it was about human rights.

And so he went on to organize seminars to address the status of hwagyo, and the initiative culminated in a Congress Hall meeting in March 2001. Hundreds of ethnic Chinese from all over the country gathered in Seoul, along with policymakers and legal experts. Also present were personnel of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce since the matter involved other ethnic minorities in Korea.

It was the first time the local Chinese community had stood up to make a change, and a green card system was finally launched in May 2002. But it did not fully meet the desired conditions.

Yet the civic movement had international implications.

Koreans, for one thing, should know very well about the constraints of legal statuses overseas. Many ethnic Koreans living in Japan, often known as “zainichi,” have endured a long history of discrimination in the neighboring Asian country. When asked about this, Yang said he and his colleagues had in fact worked closely with Japanese civic leaders.

Moreover, mainland China, Taiwan and Singapore recognized the group’s efforts as a human rights initiative, especially since it was propelled by Koreans rather than ethnic Chinese. The Taiwanese government responded by granting green cards to its Korean residents.

“Korea is a very closed society but one thing that’s good about our country is that once things change, they change very fast,” said Yang. The next step, he said, is establishing a dual citizenship program.

“San Francisco has a huge Chinese-Korean community. But they are segregated from the mainland Chinese community because they like kimchi. The Chinese have a unique status in Korea and Korean history, and their betterment symbolizes Korea’s progress in human rights.”

But more important than shifts in the system, he stressed, is transforming people’s mindset.

“Without the conscious effort to change it’s not possible to make any changes. You need to open your mind. Globalization is not possible until people start changing the way they think and be more open and welcoming to minorities.”

hyowlee@koreatimes.co.kr