Well, I have no idea about this one. Both Transfermarkt and Wikipedia say he's Korean-American; they're only partly reliable for stuff like this, but I don't think they use the same data so it seems worth looking into. He appears to have been born in Korea, so he'd presumably have a Korean parent and I haven't been able to find any English-language information. Here is his roster profile page at Jeju United: http://www.jeju-utd.com/player/PLAYERSView.asp?pf_section=0&pf_delyn=0 And his K-League.com profile: http://kleague.com/matchcenter/record_player.aspx?team_id=K10&player_id=2007043 Anyone able to read those pages who can figure this out?
his father is american but every player bio i've seen of him has his nationality listed as korean. for him to hold both passports, he will have had to have completed his military service in korea and i'm not sure if he did that already. i'll look for more info
More information on the 24 year old KANG Soo-Il in English, including references to his Republic of (South) Korea nationality and place of birth. Side topic, but the location of KANG's team, JeJu-do (province) island south of the Korean peninsula, is considered Korea's Hawaii.
For anyone wondering if playing for the US is a possibility: "One of his current major goals is to play for the South Korea national football team." - Wikipedia (that could be completely fabricated ofcourse though.)
True, but it's more fun when we put them through their development system, too. Like the Germericans.
So I just finished watching a K-League match between Ulsan Hyundai FC and Jeju United. While I was watching the game I noticed a Brazilian player in right mid, but his name was 강수일 (Kang Su-Il). I thought to myself that can't be right, so I googled him and found out he was a Korean-American playing in the K-League. While I was googling I also found this thread, so I thought I would share what I know about him. Kang Su-Il is the starting right mid for Jeju United. He has good pace and speed, but needs to work on his crossing. He previously played for Incheon United.
Born and raised in Korea. His dad was a US serviceman and he abandoned him and his mother. He has no relationship with his father.
According to Wikipedia (yeah, I know...), South Korea has changed the dual citizenship law effective 2011. A revised nationality law passed on April 21, 2010, by the National Assembly of South Korea and in effect since January 1, 2011, granted a limited number of persons dual citizenship. These persons include: Koreans with multiple nationalities who has vowed his/her intention not to exercise his/her foreign nationality in the Republic of Korea; Children born in Korea or abroad with one Korean parent;
That exception is rare, and I've never heard of a native-born Korean male being allowed dual citizenship. The people who usually get that exception were born outside of Korea.
The change in the law is pretty recent. I do remember some cases back in the '80s of Korean-American kids without Korean passports visiting and getting forced into the military. They've always been tough on citizenship issues.
Nor does this change the fact that he is an American citizen regardless of whether he has a passport or not.
A lot of countries do this: France, Iran, Israel, etc. You usually pay a fine. I know someone whose father left France when he was a teenager, had been back several times and even owned property, and they forced him to pay a "fine" for himself when he was in his 70s but also for his son who was in his 40s.
It used to be really common and why a lot of dual citizens never claimed the 2nd passport (especially before you could work across the EU with any other passport). Greece, Italy used to be very tough on this, but I think all of the EU countries have backed off of mandatory service. But this issue fits the old saying "you are a citizen if WE say you are citizen".
According to the original South Korean law, if you have a dual citizenship, when you turn 22, you have to decide which citizenship you're going to take. This applied to everyone, including children with a non-Korean parent. The immigration law went into effect in 2011, when he was 24. Chances are, he's already given up his US citizenship and has until 2016 to get it reinstated.
Found a article about him. Pretty old. (2009) http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/sports/2009/05/136_45706.html
Highlight of the Ulsan Hyundai FC vs Jeju United (Yesterday's match): Kang's touches, dribbling and shots: @1:38 @1:55 @3:00 @4:05