SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: EAST ASIA SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: EAST ASIA Republic of Korea (South Korea) Laws Citizenship Law Jus sanguinis and jus soli provisions The citizenship law of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) operates mainly through a jus sanguinis structure with one jus soli provision. According to the Nationality Act, a child born to one or two citizen parents is considered a citizen, with no distinction made regarding the individual's place of birth.1135 Citizenship by acknowledgement is also possible for foreign citizen children who have a citizen parent.1136 There is no definition of statelessness or a stateless person included in the citizenship legislation of South Korea. The citizenship law of the Republic of Korea (South Korea) operates mainly through a jus sanguinis structure with one jus soli provision. Naturalized citizenship Stateless persons are not included in the naturalization provisions of South Korea’s Nationality Act. However, non-citizens may gain citizenship by naturalization if they “sustain a domicile” in South Korea for at least five years, are financially independent, and have basic knowledge of Korean language and customs.1137 Reports however suggest that the process of naturalization takes place for a prolonged period and is too difficult to obtain for stateless refugees, making their situation precarious and opening them to prolonged periods of statelessness.1138 A simplified naturalization process is open to limited foreigners who satisfy the categories of making an outstanding contribution to South Korea, or having a parent who is a South Korean national, or whose spouse is South Korean, among others.1139 Dual citizenship Dual citizenship is not recognized in South Korea.1140 In order to gain South Korean citizenship, a person with foreign citizenship must renounce their prior citizenship within one year of receiving South Korean citizenship.1141 A South Korean citizen will lose their citizenship upon gaining citizenship of 102 STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC (DETAILED VERSION) another state.1142 However, a 2010 amendment to the Nationality Act made an exception to this for children born to South Korean parents outside the territory of Korea, marriage migrants, naturalized foreigners of outstanding talent and those who previously held Korean citizenship.1143 As a result of the amendment, eligible persons can maintain dual citizenship by making a pledge to the Minister of Justice not to exercise their non-South Korean citizenship while in South Korea.1144 force upon her the nationality of the husband”.1147 South Korea also made a reservation on Article 16(1)(g), which provides equal rights of husband and wife, particularly “to choose a family name, a profession and an occupation”.1148 South Korea is the only state in East Asia and one of only six states in the Asia Pacific that has acceded to the 1954 Statelessness Convention. In its 2023 concluding observations, the Human Rights Committee expressed concerns regarding the severe lack of anti-discrimination legislation, including on the grounds of nationality.1149 Further concerns expressed by Committee is with regard to reports of pervasive hate speech towards “escapees from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Muslim migrants and refugees” as well as “towards migrants, asylum-seekers and refugees during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, including by politicians and public figures, both offline and online”.1150 This was echoed in 2017 concluding observations by the CESCR Committee, which found the exclusion of non-citizens from the country’s social security system and public services concerning.1151 As a party to both of the ICCPR and ICESCR, South Korea is bound to protect the right to freedom from discrimination.1152 South Korea did not respond to the concerns regarding discrimination on the grounds of nationality specifically in the follow-up to the CESCR Committee’s concluding observations.1153 The Rapporteur responded that South Korea’s progress in ensuring nondiscrimination on all prohibited grounds of discrimination is insufficient.1154 Treaty ratification status South Korea is the only state in East Asia and one of only six states in the Asia Pacific that has acceded to the 1954 Statelessness Convention. While it has not acceded to the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness, it has ratified the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol, ICCPR, ICESCR, ICERD, CRC, and CEDAW. A 2021 Mapping report of Statelessness in South Korea notes that while the Constitution of the country stipulates that international treaties should be considered part of domestic law, in practice that 1954 convention is not applied as domestic law (most notably in the lack of codified definitions of statelessness and stateless persons).1145 Upon signing CEDAW, South Korea made a reservation stating that the country is not bound to Article 9, which stipulates gender equality in nationality.1146 Article 9 also states that the “State Parties shall grant women equal rights with men to acquire, change or retain their nationality” and that change of nationality of the husband shall not automatically alter the nationality of the wife, “render her stateless or TABLE 27 Status of Accession of International Human Rights Treaties in East Asia Country Republic of Korea ✅ ⛔ Stateless 1 ✅ Stateless 2 ⛔ Refugee Signifies that the country is a party to the convention Signifies that the country is not a party to the convention ✅ ICCPR ✅ ICESCR ✅ ICERD ✅ CRC ✅ CEDAW ✅ Stateless 1 - 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons Stateless 2 - 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness REPORT 2024 103