REPUBLIC OF KOREA (SOUTH KOREA) Population

Population

  1. Reported stateless persons 

In 2022, the South Korean government reported 241 stateless persons to UNHCR. This represents an increase of 39 persons since 2021, when the government reported a total of 202 stateless persons. The officially reported stateless population has remained around 200 persons for the past 5 years. Based on entry and exit immigration data and foreign residents data, as many 10,032 stateless persons could be residing within South Korea. UNHCR’s 4th cycle UPR submission for South Korea mentions that “it is generally agreed that no reliable official figures exist on the number of stateless persons in Korea”. 

Country2019 (year start)2020 (year end)2021 (year end)2022 (year end)
Republic of Korea197203202241

One group experiencing statelessness are ethnically Chinese defectors from North Korea who are unable to gain Korean citizenship due to ties to China. Around 33,000 defectors from North Korea entered South Korea between 1998 and 2023, 71% of which being women. South Korea does not recognise the legitimacy of the North Korean state and considers the entire Korean peninsula to be their territory and nationals of North Korea to be their nationals. Refugees from North Korea are however required to undertake a verification process and receive a ‘decision of protection’ which enables the creation of a new family registration. While most North Korean defectors are supported by government services, those who are of Chinese descent are denied refugee status and the government services that come with it. As of 2021, 30 of these defectors were recognized as stateless. Due to their stateless status, many have difficulty finding employment and accessing basic services. Some resort to posing as a North Korean national, which has led to prolonged detention in South Korea.

  1. Persons at risk of statelessness 

Both the CEDAW and ICERD Committees have noted with concern the barriers faced by children born to foreign parents to access birth registration and citizenship. The CEDAW Committee stated in 2019 concluding observations for South Korea that the children of undocumented, unmarried migrant women are at particular risk of statelessness due to barriers to birth registration. 

Those who are stateless and at risk of statelessness in South Korea include foreigners whose naturalized South Korean citizenship is revoked after renouncing prior citizenship, returning former nationals who were rendered stateless in Russia and Japan, stateless asylum seekers from North Korea and other states, and children born to foreigners.

  1. Stateless Refugees

The 2021 mapping report identified 97 Vietnamese asylum seekers (and their descendants) who arrived in South Korea during the Vietnamese war, were classified as stateless due to an administrative gap and have not yet had their status resolved.