SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: EAST ASIA FIGURE 08 People of Korean Descent in Japan with Unresolved Citizenship Status Koreans in Japan Stripped of Japanese Citizenship Koreans in Japan with unresolved citizenship issue SUB-REGIONAL OVERVIEW: EAST ASIA Foundlings have the right to citizenship at birth in Japan, Mongolia, North Korea and South Korea.167 No protection is provided for foundlings under the citizenship law of China. Prior to the dissolution of China’s one child policy the country had over 500,000 registered orphans, in 2021, this figure had reduced to 190,000.168 In Mongolia, a lack of legal safeguards around renunciation of nationality, and the bar on dual nationality169 has left many ethnic Kazakh stateless.170 Post WW2 Administrative Barriers 2021 0 10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 Typology of Stateless Persons in Japan, UNHCR (2017) were stripped of Japanese citizenship.162 In 2021, more than 26,000 persons and their descendants have not had their citizenship status resolved.163 In both Taiwan and South Korea, foreign spouses whose marriage is determined to be a ‘sham’ or ‘fraudulent’ have been stripped of their citizenship and rendered stateless (as both states have required the renunciation of one’s former nationality prior to gaining the nationality of their spouse).164 While protection may exist in the citizenship laws of most states, administrative barriers to accessing citizenship and the application of citizenship laws in East Asia is fundamentally complicated by household registration systems which simultaneously operate. The central role played by household registration in verifying one’s citizenship and realizing the associated rights cannot be overstated. The impact of these systems on the realization of citizenship is specifically notable in China, Japan and South Korea among children of migrants, ethnic minority groups and those of uncertain nationalities.171 Stakeholders in East Asia Fifteen former SNAP members were based in the East Asia subregion. Eight of the fifteen members were active members, including:  Pillkyu Hwang, Korean Public Interest Lawyers Group (GONGGAM) (South Korea)  Il lee, Advocates for Public Interest Law (South Korea)  Clarence, Taiwan Association for Human Rights (Taiwan)  Zita Jeng, Union of Undocumented Immigrants (Taiwan)  Dr Guofu Liu School of Law, Beijing Institute of Technology (China)  Wawine Yamashita, Japan Stateless Research Group (Japan)  Hajime Akiyama, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Japan)  Osamu Arakaki, International Christian University (ICU) (Japan) South Korea has a strong research and civil society sector working with stateless populations and those at risk of statelessness. NFA has one partner based in South Korea being Jeannie Kim, Duroo (association of Public Interest Law/Universal Birth Registration Network). Website: http://www.duroo.org Japan appears to be the only country within East Asia with a network of persons with lived experience, with the Japanese Stateless Network formed in 2009 and registered in 2011. Website: https://stateless-network.com Birth Registration As of May 2022, Japan, Mongolia, and North Korea each reported a birth registration rate of 100%.172 There is no recent verifiable birth registration data reported from China or South Korea.173 Childhood Statelessness Protections exist in the nationality laws of all five countries in East Asia which provide citizenship to children born to stateless parents. Under the nationality laws of China, Japan, North Korea and South Korea these children are entitled to an automatic grant of nationality,165 in Mongolia they can access Mongolian citizenship after reaching 16 years of age.166 Foundlings have the right to citizenship at birth in Japan, Mongolia, North Korea and South Korea. No protection is provided for foundlings under the citizenship law of China. 32 33 STATELESSNESS ENCYCLOPEDIA ASIA PACIFIC REPORT 2023