Abstract

Through the globalization of Korean society, people of double citizenship increase in Korea. However, strong nationalism and the duty of military services have not allowed the public to discuss the issue of double citizenship in an objective and rational way. The mass media and the public opinion define double citizenship as a privilege only for the rich class. The mass media mobilize nationalism to criticize those who have double citizenship. The author argues that this nationalist approach is too simple to solve the issue of double citizenship. Instead, the author maintains that the concept of democratic citizenship is useful in discussing the issue of double citizenship. The concept of democratic citizenship is based on the idea of globalization from below. By using this concept, the author criticizes the ethnocentrism of the nationalist discourse in discussing the issue of double citizenship.