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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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PYS1025
Joined: 19 Jan 2014
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 Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2014 2:50 am Post subject: US-Born Gyopo going to Korea-dont want to be drafted |
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I will be going to Korea this upcoming June, and want to live and work there until August 2015, which would mean spending just a little over a year there.
Now, here is my situation. I am a Korean-American male, who was born in the United States AFTER 1988, to parents who were both Korean citizens at the time of my birth. My parents later obtained US citizenship around 2005-ish, and I have been completely born and raised here.
My understanding from reading other threads is that due to the arbitrary fact that I was born after 1988, I am not eligible for an F4 visa. (can someone confirm this?) And if this indeed is the case, then WHAT exactly is my status? Am I even eligible for an E2 visa? Am I considered to be a dual citizen?
The bottom line is that I want to be able to live and work in Korea (teaching English, probably) for a year, without the risk of being drafted into the military. What is the normal course of action for someone like me?
Thanks. |
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drcrazy
Joined: 19 Feb 2003
Location: Pusan. Yes, that's right. Pusan NOT Busan. I ain't never been to no place called Busan
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| Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2014 3:32 am Post subject: Re: US-Born Gyopo going to Korea-dont want to be drafted |
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| PYS1025 wrote: |
I will be going to Korea this upcoming June, and want to live and work there until August 2015, which would mean spending just a little over a year there.
Now, here is my situation. I am a Korean-American male, who was born in the United States AFTER 1988, to parents who were both Korean citizens at the time of my birth. My parents later obtained US citizenship around 2005-ish, and I have been completely born and raised here.
My understanding from reading other threads is that due to the arbitrary fact that I was born after 1988, I am not eligible for an F4 visa. (can someone confirm this?) And if this indeed is the case, then WHAT exactly is my status? Am I even eligible for an E2 visa? Am I considered to be a dual citizen?
The bottom line is that I want to be able to live and work in Korea (teaching English, probably) for a year, without the risk of being drafted into the military. What is the normal course of action for someone like me?
Thanks. |
If you do come here and get drafted, look on the bright side. Korean soldiers look so cute in their uniforms. |
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andrewchon
Joined: 16 Nov 2008
Location: Back in Oz. Living in ISIS Aust.
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| Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2014 6:00 am Post subject: |
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| If your name is in the family hojeuk then you'll be eligible for draft. So, ask your parents whether your name is in it or not. Next, get the hojeuk and check that your name is not in it because your relatives can put your name in hojeuk, as well. |
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sml7285
Joined: 26 Apr 2012
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| Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2014 4:05 pm Post subject: Re: US-Born Gyopo going to Korea-dont want to be drafted |
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| PYS1025 wrote: |
I will be going to Korea this upcoming June, and want to live and work there until August 2015, which would mean spending just a little over a year there.
Now, here is my situation. I am a Korean-American male, who was born in the United States AFTER 1988, to parents who were both Korean citizens at the time of my birth. My parents later obtained US citizenship around 2005-ish, and I have been completely born and raised here.
My understanding from reading other threads is that due to the arbitrary fact that I was born after 1988, I am not eligible for an F4 visa. (can someone confirm this?) And if this indeed is the case, then WHAT exactly is my status? Am I even eligible for an E2 visa? Am I considered to be a dual citizen?
The bottom line is that I want to be able to live and work in Korea (teaching English, probably) for a year, without the risk of being drafted into the military. What is the normal course of action for someone like me?
Thanks. |
Considered a dual citizen. Technically, even if your name isn't on your family's hojuk, you're technically a dual national, albeit an unregistered one.
For short-term stay... well look into getting your 민증 and register with 병무청. Call and find out if you can push your draft date until after you plan on heading back stateside.
Or... you could just enter the military, though I must say... it kinda sucks. |
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chellovek
Joined: 29 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2014 5:51 pm Post subject: |
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| A Gyopo I worked with got around the draft problem by only using his English language name in Korea (bank account name etc), so on paper in a moment's glance by a bureaucrat he's just another daft foreigner. |
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PYS1025
Joined: 19 Jan 2014
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| Posted: Sat Apr 26, 2014 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Considered a dual citizen. Technically, even if your name isn't on your family's hojuk, you're technically a dual national, albeit an unregistered one.
For short-term stay... well look into getting your 민증 and register with 병무청. Call and find out if you can push your draft date until after you plan on heading back stateside.
Or... you could just enter the military, though I must say... it kinda sucks. |
Hey, thanks for these responses.
Can you or somebody define "short term?" My plan to stay from June 2014 to August 2015 amounts to a little over a year, and seems long-term rather than short-term. This is a one-time stay so that I can improve my Korean and explore the country before starting grad school in the US in the fall of 2015, for which I have deferred my enrollment by one year. Doing military is not an option for me, as I was born and raised exclusively in the US, not in the family's hojuk, and visited Korea only 2-3 times in my life for very brief periods. My Korean isn't even very good.
The KEY here for me, is that I want to live in Korea continuously for slightly over a year, while working as an English teacher/engaging in for-profit activities in Korea during that time. If indeed I am a dual citizen, then I assume this would rule me out of any sort of visa such as F4/E2 (?). This would mean that in order to live there and legally work, I need to make a new Korean passport, 민증 (Korean national ID), etc. The tricky part of course is getting the military service waiver and/or exemption.
I looked into it and, if this is all true, then I appear to meet the criteria to be classified as 재외국민2세 (2nd generation overseas Korean, non-resident citizen), and therefore can be exempt from military service. This status appears to be the most important key for people like me(?). Can someone clarify what this status means and its full implications? Will obtaining this status get me the exemption I need in order to live continuously in Korea for slightly over a year, and WORK, without the risk of being drafted...?
Thanks so much for any help. And I will be calling and hopefully going to the embassy this Monday, and I will post the results of my meeting. |
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Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2014 6:22 am Post subject: |
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If you're only coming for a year, then why not just tell immigration that you're American and that you're parents are American and that you have no connections at all to Korea. Even if your name is blatantly Korean, you can still say that your great grandparents were from Korea or better yet that they were ethnic Koreans from China. Depending on your given and family names you could also say that your grandparents were from elsewhere in Asia. Basically, if you don't tell them that your parents were Korean or what family your father belonged/belongs to then they'll have no way of making connection.
In short, keep quiet about it. |
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