The Continuity of Statehood and Peoplehood in Modern Korea: How the Republic of Korea Has Defined Its Citizenry

This article explores the legal and political foundations of the Republic of Korea’s statehood and citizenship, illuminating the ROK’s assertion of its identity and continuity with the pre-annexation Korean state. The ROK government has consistently asserted that Japan’s annexation of Korea was null and void ab initio and that, therefore, Korean statehood persisted despite Japanese rule. The article shows to what extent this position has manifested itself in the Korean state’s definition of the boundaries of its people. While the main purpose of the study is to examine the official discourses of the ROK government in explaining the continuity of the citizenry from the pre-annexation Empire of Korea to the post-1948 Republic of Korea, it also sheds light on how the Empire of Korea and the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea addressed issues of membership. The article highlights the underlying conviction in the identity and continuity of statehood held by the framers of the 1948 Nationality Act and examines the position, within the ROK legal system, of the Temporary Provisions Concerning the Law of Nationality adopted under the US Army Military Government shortly before the establishment of the Government of the Republic of Korea, which was seemingly ignored by the framers. The study concludes that, while the interpretation and application of nationality rules have revealed certain gaps and inconsistencies, the ROK government and judiciary have maintained and developed a commitment to the identity and continuity of statehood between the Empire of Korea and the present Republic of Korea.