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A draft law seeking revenge on dual nationals who legally gave up their Korean passports ahead of the new Nationality Law, which bans them from doing so unless they have completed their mandatory military service, was passed to a subcommittee on Tuesday. The National Assembly¡¯s Legislation and Judiciary Committee passed on the draft revision to immigration laws for overseas Koreans that would restrict economic activity of Koreans deemed to have given up their citizenship to avoid the draft. They would also enjoy no better health insurance benefits in Korea than Uzbeks or Paraguayans.
The bill, dubbed the ¡°second salvo¡± of the Nationality Law, was introduced into the National Assembly in April by irate Grand National Party lawmaker Hong Joon-pyo after the original bill backfired and led to long queues of young men who wanted to divest themselves of their Korean nationality while they still could. ¡°People who abandon their citizenship currently receive state protection as overseas Koreans with rights equal to Korean citizens, but we must strip those who abandon their citizenship of overseas Korean status,¡± Hong said.
Choi Jae-cheon of the ruling Uri Party has indicated opposition to the bill, which he said could violate the Constitution, including the principle of equality. He said it was also an excessively restrictive measure. But Hong said ¡°rational punishment¡± was permissible under the Constitution.
Meanwhile, it was revealed that 22,482 Koreans approaching the age of conscription gave up their Korean passports over the last five years, while in the same period only 23 overseas Koreans acquired Korean citizenship and with it the duty to complete their military service. Figures obtained by GNP lawmaker Song Young-sun from the Military Manpower Administration on Tuesday show that 2,750 young men struck from the conscription list because they had given up their Korean nationality in 2001, 3,679 in 2002, 7,174 in 2003, 6,771 in 2004 and 2,108 from January till May this year, when the new law came into effect. Since 2001, a grand total of 23 had their Korean citizenship restored and served in the military.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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