No male diplomat's son with foreign nationality chose Korean citizenship

Among the adult children of active South Korean diplomats who have registered foreign nationalities, not a single male holds Korean citizenship alone, data released Tuesday showed.

According to materials submitted to People Power Party lawmaker Kim Dae-sik, who leads his party's side on the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, 63 children of diplomats aged 19 or older had registered foreign nationalities as of September.

Of those, 59 held both South Korean and foreign nationalities, while three men held only foreign citizenship. Just one person — a woman — held South Korean citizenship exclusively.

Under Article 15 of the Nationality Act, a South Korean citizen who voluntarily acquires a foreign nationality automatically loses Korean citizenship. The three sons of diplomats who chose sole foreign nationality are not subject to South Korea's mandatory military service obligation.

When Kim requested data on the military service status of male children with registered foreign nationalities, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said only that the Military Manpower Administration tracks and manages changes in military service status for reportable subjects — defined as male children of civil servants aged 18 or older — under the Act on the Reporting and Disclosure of Military Service Status of Public Officials.

The ministry also declined to disclose when or why the three men with sole foreign nationality renounced or lost their Korean citizenship, citing the protection of personal information and privacy.

Including spouses and minor children, a total of 242 cases of foreign nationality registrations were reported among diplomat family members.

Of those, 60 involved spouses and 182 involved children. By country, the United States accounted for the most cases at 133, followed by Russia (13), China (10), Germany (8), and Japan, Canada and France (6 each).

Under the Foreign Service Officials Act, a person without South Korean citizenship cannot become a diplomat, and even holding foreign permanent residency constitutes a violation. Family members acquiring foreign nationalities, however, require no separate approval — only a notification filing.

"For ordinary citizens, nationality is not a choice but life itself, yet in diplomat households, South Korean citizenship is being treated as just one option among many," Kim said. "There should be at least a minimum oversight mechanism when a diplomat whose family holds the nationality of a counterpart country is assigned to handle affairs involving that country."