재외동포의 법적지위를 규정하는 두가지 방식- 한국과 멕시코의 비교
Two Ways of Providing for the Status of Overseas Compatriots :South Korea and Mexico Compared
이철우
초록
Increasing transnational migration has precipitated state efforts to forge and strengthen ties with emigrés and diasporas living abroad, who develop transnational identities spanning across borders. South Korea and Mexico are known for their large sizes of emigrant populations. The two states have taken differing strategies for reproducing ties with emigrés. In 1999 South Korea enacted the Overseas Koreans Act, which provides for a special immigration status for former Koreans who have acquired foreign nationality. In 1997 Mexico amended its constitution and nationality law to recognise the dual nationality of Mexicans living abroad. This study explores the backgrounds of the developments in South Korea and Mexico, the qualifications and rights of the beneficiaries of the legal measures taken by the two countries, and the reactions and repercussions that their initiatives have brought. While dual nationality is a means for a state to reproduce its ties with its populations living abroad that is recognised by the established legal discourse, the conferment of a special status to 'kin-foreigners' who are not nationals may be problematic in that it creates a third category that has little place in the dominant legal discourse predicated upon the traditional distinction of nationals and aliens. But the reactions that the two approaches face depend on the international and political environments in which they operate and are more complex than their legal implications.