Quote:
Originally Posted by p_ahn
no so fast.
being a "second-generation" doesn't exempt you from Korean military service.
I know plenty of American citizens that were forced to serve.
the reason?
although they had U.S. citizenship, they were listed on the "hojuck," i.e., family registry.
my parents took my name off the "hojuck" before I became a legal adult, thus, I didn't have to serve.
I know guys that were "caught" at the airport and taken straight to the camps since they thought they were exempt as American citizens.
mind you, this is several years ago and the policy may have changed.
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I'm not even a Korean citizen - I have dual citizenship to the US (naturalized) and Argentina (born). Wouldn't that make me exempt or something?
EDIT:
Ok so fuck, after asking my parents, I've gotten some unfortunate news. Although my parents became naturalized US citizens back in 1999, when I was about 11, they never formally renounced their Korean citizenship. Because I'm their son, by extension, even though I've never lived in South Korea, in the government's point of view, I am still considered a Korean citizen, even if its not on paper. If I had wanted to renounced my "Korean citizenship," I had to have done it before I turned 18 - too late, as I will be 20 this coming July.
Here was one story that got me worrying:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/..._korean08.html
Same circumstances for me - even though I was born in Argentina and moved to the US when I was 5, my grandfather registered me in my family's hojuk, or the Family Census Registry. I am a little better off since I attend Korean language school classes growing up and live in Los Angeles, a city with a huge Korean population, but even then, my Korean is still conversational at best; to give you an idea, last night I was watching
Die Hard with my Dad - I had difficulty explaining the story to him, and its not that complicated of a movie. I speak Konglish basically (mix of Korean+English, like how some Mexican-Americans speak Spanglish or Tex-Mex, since their Spanish is not perfect).
SON OF A BITCH. I was planning on visiting Korea either through a study abroad program or just visiting my relatives for a year after college. With this nagging at the back of my mind however, I am beginning to have second thoughts.