Fake naturalization applications detected

With the number of foreigners who acquired Korean nationality soaring in recent years, some applicants have been found to have submitted false information, Justice Ministry officials said yesterday.

Of the foreigners who applied for naturalization last year, 119 went through genetic examinations and four of them were rejected for false information. Most lied about having a parent-child relationship with a third party or vice versa, according to officials.

A Chinese woman who acquired Korean nationality by marrying a Korean man attempted to naturalize a Chinese girl, claiming that she was the daughter of her former Chinese husband.

Another Chinese woman submitted an application for her daughter, claiming that she was the offspring of her Korean husband. The girl was in fact the daughter of another Chinese.

In both cases, the genetic examination exposed the fabrication and the applicants` requests were rejected.



In some cases, the applications were rejected for procedural reasons though the alleged biological relationships were true.

A Chinese woman, who tried to reunite with her former husband after divorcing her Korean husband, applied for Korean nationality on behalf of her daughter. Her request was rejected as the daughter was not marked in the family relation register.

She then tried to adopt her own daughter but failed once again, even though the genetic test confirmed their blood relation, said officials.

The number of naturalized foreigners reached 25,044 last year, the highest since the founding of the Korean government in 1948.

Some 19,512, or 78 percent were female, many of which were immigrant wives, and 5,532 were male, according to ministry data.

Among the native states of the applicants, China ranked first with 19,432 people or 78 percent, with Vietnam and Philippines following respectively with 3,762 and 815.

(tellme@heraldm.com)



By Bae Hyun-jung