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"Till the waters of the East Sea dry up, and Mt.Baekdu crumbles..." We are in the test venue for naturalization at the Gwacheon Government Complex. The pronunciation may be a little shaky, but the Korean national anthem rings out, full of life. At the direction of interviewers from the Immigration Bureau, Choi Seong-gook (34) belts out the song as if his life depended on it -- as to a certain extent it does. As the word "pass" passes the lips of a panel member, the stony expression on Choi's face melts into glee. Since he came to Korea two years ago, he has been subjected to discrimination for being a foreigner; now, as a proud naturalized Korean, he hopes that will change.
In the room next door is Shin Ok-rye, who is of Korean heritage but grew up in China and only came here from Heilongjiang Province two years ago. At the direction of the interviewer, the 37-year old picks up the pencil and writes in very square-looking hangul the pledge to the flag: "I stand before the venerable flag of Korea..." In the end, she made just one mistake. When her interview comes to a close, she is misty-eyed. "Now I can live with my mother, who came here before me,¡± she says. ¡°I'll be able to sleep well tonight."
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Shin Ok-rye tries to still her crying baby during her interview for Korean nationality.
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With the rise in Korea's status and the increase in marriages between Koreans and foreigners, the number of people seeking Korean citizenship has skyrocketed. According to the Justice Ministry, the number who sought naturalization or recovery of citizenship grew explosively from 1,818 in 2003 to 23,911 in 2005.
And the origins of people married to Koreans and seeking naturalization are becoming more diverse, with numbers increasing not only from Southeast Asia but as far afield as Uzbekistan and Peru. Those who applied for the test in March last year are only now getting to take it because the schedule is so backed up., "The number of Chinese of Korean descent who are hoping to obtain Korean citizenship is increasing," says Mun-il, from the ethnic Korean region of Jilin, China. "The test dates are being pushed back so far; I hope officials do something about it."
In the written test, 12 of 20 questions must be answered correctly, while the interview component rates applicants¡¯ command of Korean and covers basic questions on Korean history and geography. Some 80 percent of applicants pass the test.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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