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Amid uproar over the disclosure that some leading political and social figures let their sons relinquish Korean citizenship to avoid mandatory military service, a former chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea (AMCHAM) on Friday vowed his own sons would hold on to their Korean passports.
Jeffrey Jones made the promise during a meeting hosted by the Korea Employers Federation at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul. ¡°Since Korea has become an advanced nation with a good living environment, I want to raise my children in Korea,¡± Jones said.
He said his wife rang him while he was on a business trip in Washington last month to discuss what to do with their two sons, who have dual nationality, ahead of a law that bans dual nationals from giving up their Korean citizenship before completing their military service. ¡°I slept on the matter and decided to keep Korean citizenship for them,¡± he said.
Jones said he made money and enjoyed many benefits while living in Korea for 30 years, and it would therefore be inappropriate for his sons to relinquish their Korean passports to avoid military service. He said military duty could be a valuable experience, adding it was important to do one¡¯s duty - even if, as he joked, his sons would be sent to a war zone.
Jones, who is married to a Korean woman, has a four-year-old and a two-year-old son. He served as AMCHAM chairman from 1998 until 2002 and is so fond of Korea that he often refers to it as ¡°my country.¡± Asked why he held on to his U.S. citizenship, Jones said it enabled him more effectively to represent Korea to the U.S.
Under the revised military service law to go into effect from July, young men with one Korean parent can join the military if they want.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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