Woman Denied Korean Citizenship for Not Learning National Anthem
This doesn’t seem like too much to ask someone to do to be granted Korean citizenship:
Any foreigner seeking Korean citizenship must be able to sing Korea’s national anthem during a naturalization interview.
The Seoul Administrative Court ruled in favor of the Ministry of Justice, which declined to grant a woman born in China citizenship in 2010, citing she couldn’t sing the national anthem. She also failed two other tests during her interview.
The woman, surnamed Choi, filed a suit with the court, demanding a reversal of the decision.
“We found the interview criteria and the interviewers’ evaluation were fair. Not only did Choi fail to sing the national anthem, she also failed two other tests. Therefore, we find there are no grounds to call the ministry’s decision unfair and illegal,” said a judge. [Korea Times]
It seems that if she wanted Korean citizenship so badly she would take the time to study and learn the anthem.
Ummmm, it’s not that hard to memorize their national anthem….
She should have known it was a requirement when she started the whole process.
Here’s the English lyrics:
God help the emperor
May he live forever
Bestow treasures like mountain-piles
May his influence and power reach across the world
Fifty million times may his blessings be renewed every day
God help the emperor
Silly Leon. That is the old version from before 1910 when Korea had kings. The new version translates roughly to…
From Baekdu-san to Halla-san
we have four distinct seasons.
Our oceans are named after a compass
fukk the Japanese.
Great Northern master’s
Soft invasion welcome.
Let us now protest something.
Yankee dog, go home.
Our resident advocate for Korea soon becoming a satellite of China might ask, “Why should she have to learn any of that?”
We couldn’t really demand the same regarding our German anthem. Lucky for all immigrants. But what can we do? There is the nazi stanza, then the unbelievable, kind of unreal bouser stanza and finally the official one which has an acceptable text, but is so boring and lulling that one might wonder how to still win a football game after singing it. That is perhaps the reason why not everybody is singing it.
Is the requirement to learn the short version you hear a lot or the actual version because with the refrain that one’s as long as my…
nose. 😉
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aegukga
Short version or long version, they both add that much more time to a change of command ceremony. Sucks for the guidon bearers too. No break in between two national anthems while at present arms.
kimchifrox,
As I understand, you guys are a bit wary of anything remotely resembling indoctrination.
Just a thought but maybe Rammstein could compose a new national anthem. Don’t think you’d have trouble staying awake singing along with that one.
Hasser werden hassen
She was able to read or say/speak the anthem but just couldn’t “sing” it. *en Koreans and their sing/dance like a monkey requirements.