Chōsen-seki

Chōsen-seki (朝鮮籍, "Korean domicile") is an alternative nationality among ethnic Koreans in Japan who have neither Japanese nor South Korean citizenship. North Korean residents in Japan also hold this nationality as the Japanese government does not recognize North Korea as a country.

This non-conventional category does not have effective representation in the government.

Background

Chōsen-seki is a convention made by the Japanese government to register stateless Korean residents in Japan shortly after the Surrender of Japan. The Korean people originally had a Japanese citizenship during the Japanese occupation of the Korean Peninsula, but the Japanese citizenship was later revoked from the Koreans as Japan surrendered and gave up sovereignty over Korea.

Legal issues

On September 30, 2010, the Seoul High Court declared that any ethnic Korean from Japan who has a Chōsen-seki status is barred from getting an entrance visa to South Korea.^[1][2]

Japan delegates family law issues involving foreigners to the foreigners' home country. For example, zainichi registered as South Korean have their wills determined by South Korean law. Chōsen-seki holders are arbitrarily assigned the family law of North or South Korea depending on whether they used the word "Chōsen" or "Kankoku" in official registration documents, as well as other considerations. Recently it has become more common to refer to South Korean law because it is easier to use. When North Korean law is employed, the court is often forced to fall back on Japanese law due to renvoi.

Controversies

A 71 year old Chōsen-seki Korean in Japan, An Seong-gi, was prosecuted for exporting second-hand luxury vehicles to North Korea. It was later found out that he had business cards of high-profile South Korean politicians, governmental officials, military officers, and businessmen in his home.^[3][4]

See also

• Chongryon
• Mindan
• Koreans in Japan
• Japan–North Korea relations

References