Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mogikilla]

If you have any (genuine) advice on what to do/where to go or know someone who does, please help!!

Here's the situation: A friend of Korean ancestry (parents immigrated to U.S. before he was born, so he was born and raised in the U.S. and is an American citizen) came to Korea last year to teach English with an E-2. He was almost finished with his contract when he received a draft letter from the Korean army saying he was to report for a physical and was not to leave the country.

He has no desire to serve in the Korean military, is an American citizen and never claimed Korean citizenship, only speaks very broken korean, had a hard enough year here already, and just wants to go home at the end of his contract like most people here.

He has tried the American embassy (they didn't care), gone to a lawyer (it didn't help), & someone filed a military service exemption form on his behalf*, which may have actually flagged him as someone to draft.

* (the form was filed because he found out AFTER he came to Korea to teach that when he was born a family member in Korea, for sentimental reasons?, wrote his name illegally on the family registry. He is over the age you must deny Korean citizenship by to stay out of the military.)

Please help. If you know anyone who knows about this kind of thing, please post or, if any suggestions are "less than legal", please PM me or send to turimhada at msn dot com

Thank you thank you thank you

PS--To any males of Korean ancestry but foreign citizenship who are considering coming to Korea for any reason, please look into the possibility of you being drafted here BEFORE you come so you can take the necessary steps before you are stuck here!!!!!!

[Hank Scorpio]

[mogikilla]

we also thought of this but were wondering 1)what is Immigration like at the ports (we've never left here except through Incheon before) if he tries the ferry method or 2)what will happen to him in Japan if he arrives there illegally (no exit stamp in his passport from Korea). We're hoping worst case is if he arrived illegally in Japan he would just be deported back to U.S.

What is Immigration like in Busan? Can a fishing boat get close to Japan? He's not a good swimmer and hey, no one likes being shot at...

seriously, we will entertain any/all ideas... we are desperate

[tokki]

tell him to go and renounce his korean citizenship. I know someone at my old job who had this problem. he can renounce it and then get a kyopo visa. Its a better visa than the crappy E2 because he can do anything a korean can, including teaching privates with no problem. I wonder what he was doing on an E@ visa anyway, seeing as he may still be a korean citizen.

[Kalhoun]

[mogikilla]

people with the kyopo visa can't be drafted? i hope that is true.

i'm guessing the e-2 visa was either because he didn't know at the time about the gyopo visa or if he had already found out about the family register thing (he was already here when they sent him on visa run to get e-2) then he didn't want to make any claims to korea and make himself more draft-worthy. but i'm not sure. but now his situation is that he is done with teaching and just wants to go home. is it possible to get a kyobo visa inside korea? because we are under the impression if he tries to leave korea now they will stop him at Immigration and maybe arrest him.

tokki, was your friend under the age (21? i think) where you can renounce korean citizenship without any problems? or was he older?

[Hank Scorpio]

[mogikilla]

i just realized the account had problems...but it is fine again. so if anyone has any suggestions of what my friend can do, but it isn't suitable to post, please send it to: turimhada at msn dot com

thank you!!!!

[Mr. Pink]

Here is what I wonder:

If he was BORN in the USA, did his parents register him at the local consulate in the USA, so that he could have duel citizenship?

If so, then yup he is both Korean and American, even though HE might not have done anything or made a choice, unless you renounce your Korean citizenship, they expect you to do military service.

I like Hank's idea about the boat. I would imagine taking a boat to Japan would be easier than getting on a plane.

Another idea is he could say his passport is stolen, get a new one and get on a plane ASAP.

[mogikilla]

i was thinking about this, too. but i was wondering if he gets a new passport, is it still the same passport # as the old one? i remember reading posts about this kind of thing before, for people who wanted to come back before their original E2 expired but didn't want to be denied at Immigration. Some people said the new passport thing worked, but some guy said he really did lose his passport and get a new one but that they still had a record of all his previous entries and exits linked on there. Though in hindsight , i wonder how he would know that, since the screens face the immigration officers, not the traveller. Did he ask them? In Korean?

But we are worried that his passport # is flagged somehow. Though I also don't understand why the Korean army would have authority to put some kind of flag on an American passport, isn't that acknowledging that he is an American citizen? I think I am just naive in these things, I can't think like a beaurocrat.

as far as registering with the korean consulate in the u.s., i have no idea if his family did that but i'm guessing no, because i think he really didn't have any idea about the possibility of the dual citizenship status thing until he was already here.

but thank you all for these ideas, please keep them coming in! and really, any 'shady' suggestions that could work are also welcome! turimhada at msn dot com we don't have a lot of time to be too fussy about legality

[Pyongshin Sangja]

Why wouldn't he want to fulfill his sacred duty? At least he gets free cigarettes. Maybe the Americans will add South Korea to the axis of evil if they press-gang an American citizen. Look out! Pre-emptive strike!

[kiwiboy_nz_99]

[Mr. Pink]

You shouldn't guess if his parents registered him but find out 100%. If they didn't HOW does the government know he is Korean?

Also yup you get new passport number, I have changed passports mid contract and had to goto immigration and let them know about it.

[J.B. Clamence]

In the first post, the OP said that the reason why he had dual citizenship is because some relatives in Korea put his name in the family registry when he was born in the U.S. So, what kind of information was included? It's pretty strange that a name in a family registry in Korea would help the authorities figure out that some guy who is here with a U.S. passport is the same guy who is on the family registry, and that he is here in the country. Wouldn't they need more than just a name to definitively conclude that it is the same person? I suspect that there is more to his Korean citizenship than we have heard so far.

[maxxx_power]

Now your friend has no choice but to get a massive tattoo on his chest, back, and sleeves. Roses are nice, as are dragons or the classic "*beep* army". I would prefer a portrait of Mao myself.

If there is truly no alternative, I'm sure there are fishermen who would negotiate a price for your friend to be deposited on Japanese soil. It's unfortunate that Korea is so geographically isolated, he has to get creative rather than step across the border into Mexico or Canada.

Good luck.

Psych tests are easy ways to get out of the military, failing the physical, sleepwalking, or hiring a good attorney are other options. Maybe he can admit to taking LSD in the states or other hard drugs, I'm not sure if he can be busted even if he tests clean but I know LSD in the US army is a big red flag (don't tell on me!)