It has been revealed that nearly 20,000 men have given up their South Korean nationality over the past five years to evade mandatory military service.
According to data analyzed by Democratic Party lawmaker Hwanghee from information provided by the Military Manpower Administration, a total of 18,434 men aged 18 to 40 renounced their South Korean citizenship between 2021 and the end of August this year.
Considering that about 200,000 men enlist each year, this means that nearly 1 in every 10 eligible men were excluded from enlistment due to giving up citizenship.
The most common reason was the acquisition of another nationality after studying or living abroad for a long term, accounting for 12,153 (65.9%) cases. While 6,281 (34.1%) held dual citizenship from birth and gave up their South Korean citizenship after becoming adults.
The most common new nationality among those who abandoned South Korean citizenship was American, with 7,510 people (61.8%) choosing the United States. This was followed by Canada chosen by 1,853 (15.3%) people, Japan chosen by 1,096 (9%) people, Australia chosen by 649 (5.3%) people, and New Zealand chosen by 413 (3.4%) people.
Meanwhile, during the same period, only 2,813 individuals voluntarily applied for enlistment despite living abroad or holding foreign residency status. By nationality, the largest groups came from the U.S. (511 people), China (476 people), Vietnam (260 people), Japan (220 people), Canada (155) people, and Indonesia (154 people).
Lawmaker Hwanghee stressed, "It's urgent to establish strict standards for citizenship renunciation, which can be exploited as a loophole to evade military service." He added, "We should focus on measures to encourage those who hold dual citizenship to fulfill their military duties and improve post-service support so that the military service becomes a stepping stone for their career advancement."
-I hope they're banned from coming back to South Korea when they get older.
-Cut off their d*cks.
-They shouldn't be allowed to regain their citizenship or even enter South Korea again, just like Steve Yoo.
-My husband was seriously injured in the military and received a disability rating. I understand people not wanting to enlist, but they shouldn't be allowed to regain their citizenship. I believe we all should live with the consequences of our choices.
-Giving up citizenship is their own choice and freedom, but I personally think they shouldn't be able to regain their citizenship when they get older.
-If they haven't fulfilled their duties, don't give them their rights.
-1 out of 10?? That's a lot more than I thought.
-Honestly, I'd do the sameㅋㅋ If I had the choice, I'd choose another country too.
-Don't you have to enlist first before you can give up your citizenship? I mean... People with dual citizenship still have to enlist, don't they?
-There's such thing as regaining citizenship?? If they just ban that, then it shouldn't matter if they give up their citizenship or not.
-I finished my military duties, but honestly, if I could avoid it, I would've. Why go through that if you don't have to? Why are people reacting this way?
-If it's not illegal, I probably wouldn't go either. Just ban them from regaining their citizenship until they're over 65. That'll solve it.
-Honestly, I wouldn't go eitherㅋㅋ At this point, in about 10 years, they'll probably start forcing women to serve because there won't be enough men left.
