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(LEAD) Overseas adoptee urges S. Korean gov't to allow dual citizenship
(ATTN: CHANGES wording in para 13)
By Kim Young-gyo
SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Yonhap) -- An overseas adopted Korean on Tuesday urged the South Korean government to allow dual citizenships for Korean citizens who were sent abroad for adoption.
"We were sent abroad not on our own will. Now we come back to our native land as grown-ups, but the country does not accept us as its own people," said Kim Dae-won, secretary general of Global Overseas Adoptees' Link (G.O.A.'L) in an interview with Yonhap News Agency.
Established in 1998, G.O.A.'L, an adoptee-run non-profit NGO based in Seoul, mainly helps overseas adopted Koreans meet their birth families in South Korea and build community with each other.
Kim was at an express bus terminal in southern Seoul on Tuesday on a campaign promoting G.O.A.'L's birth family searches.
The campaign is also to take place this week in other five major cities in the country, including Busan, Incheon and Daegu.
"Running campaigns like this more properly would cost money, but we do not get enough funding either from the government or from the non-government organizations, because we do not have Korean citizenship," he said.
"We were once told by government officials that they cannot trust us, because we are foreigners."
Many adoptees who come to South Korea decide to settle here, but their lives here are hampered by a variety of restrictions, he said.
"When we try to get an interview, we often get rejected because of our status," he said.
Under South Korean law, an overseas adopted Korean can apply for an F4 visa, which is issued to ethnic Koreans who have citizenships in selected countries. The visa allows them to legally work and study in South Korea.
"Yes, we do have the F4 visa, but most employers do not understand it and regard us as foreigners," Kim explained.
By the end of this year, the South Korean government plans to present a bill to amend its law to allow dual citizenships for a limited number of people.
Authorities were reported to be considering extending dual citizenship to ethnic Koreans who have gained foreign citizenships against their own will if they fulfill obligatory military service in South Korea.
"I would ask the government officials to come up with different measures, such as a community service, instead of the military service," Kim said.
"As an example, it would be difficult for many of us to serve in the Korean military ... I have already served in the army in Switzerland," said Kim, who was adopted to a Swiss family when he was four.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
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