Adoptees Receive Korean Citizenship in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi - Seoul, South Korea

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Seoul, South Korea - April, 19, 2011 - Thirteen Korean children adopted by foreigners years ago have become citizens of their homeland again after new rules allowing double citizenship for adoptees and highly skilled foreign professionals took effect in January, the Ministry of Justice said yesterday.

The ministry held a ceremony for the 13 new citizens yesterday at the Government Complex in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi. Before the changes were made, many adoptees didn’t want to apply for Korean citizenship because the law required them to forfeit their foreign nationalities.

Shin Seung-yeon, 40, who was adopted by a Dutch family when he was five, and his wife Kim Yeong-heui, 41, who was adopted by a different Dutch family when she was four, were among the 13 at the ceremony.

“I hesitated obtaining Korean citizenship because dual citizenship wasn’t allowed in Korea,” Shin said in an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo. “For me, giving up Dutch citizenship was like committing a sin against my adoptive parents and it was something that I would never do. Now my wife and I are proud to be the first adoptee couple to get dual citizenship.”

According to the new rules, ethnic Koreans who were adopted before they came of age can hold dual citizenship if they make a pledge not to exercise their rights as foreigners in Korea.  The changes are a part of the Lee Myung-bak administration’s open immigration policy that also allows highly skilled foreign workers to get dual citizenship as a means to slow down Korea’s aging society.

“We hope adoptees successfully settle down in Korea and feel the pride of being a Korean national,” a Justice Ministry official said.

According to statistics by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, 1,013 Koreans were adopted overseas last year, slightly down from 1,125 in 2009; 1,250 in 2008; 1,254 in 2007; and 1,899 in 2006.  Of the 1,125 adoptees sent overseas in 2009, 850 were sent to the United States, 67 to Canada, 84 to Sweden, 40 to Norway, 34 to Australia and the rest were sent to other Western countries, including France and Denmark.

By Kim Mi-ju [ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ]