헌법상 국민 개념의 형성 과정과 영향

Abstract

The nation are the subjects of enactment of the constitution and members of the national community. According to the Constitution, the nation become the subject of basic rights and participate in the political process. The Constitutional Assembly enacted the Nationality Act as a criterion for becoming a citizen to clarify the identity of the state and maintain continuity. Since citizens have various rights and obligations from their status, the criteria for determining nationality are very important. Since the Constitution of Korea had a strong national state tendency, the Nationality Act adopted ‘jus sanguinis’. However, it was intended to establish an open principle for the Korean people in foreign countries, which also appeared as a policy for overseas Koreans. In this study, we tried to normatively analyze how the term “nation” was adopted in the Constitution, what is the meaning of the term “nation,” and the process of determining the requirements for becoming citizens in the Nationality Act. Many drafts of the Constitution tended to use people's terms rather than nation. In particular, when expressing the subject matter of sovereignty or members of the national community, there was a tendency to use the entire nation, the entire people, and the Korean people. However, in the case of nationality as a component of the state, the national term was always used. In other words, it was confirmed that the people were an expansionary concept as a concept based on ethnicity, but the nation were a relatively narrow concept as a concept of the nation determined by the Nationality Act. This can be said to be the result of comprehensive consideration of the division of the two Koreas, the return of compatriots, the arrangement of family registers, and the exercise of the right to vote. Considering the forward-looking attitude toward compatriots at the time of the enactment of the Constitution, it was considered necessary to take improved measures against overseas Koreans even at this point.