Naturalización especial — Padre o madre coreano (특별귀화)

Special naturalization (특별귀화) architecture: an alien with a 주소 (domicile) in the ROK may naturalize WITHOUT meeting 제5조제1호 (5-year domicile), 제5조제1호의2 (PR prerequisite), 제5조제2호 (adult capacity) OR 제5조제4호 (livelihood capacity), if they fall into one of three 제7조제1항 categories. Note the waiver set is precisely '제5조제1호ㆍ제1호의2ㆍ제2호 또는 제4호' — the 제5조제3호 (good conduct), 제5조제5호 (basic knowledge) and 제5조제6호 (ministerial acknowledgment) requirements are NOT waived for special naturalization.

• 외국국적불행사서약 (pledge not to exercise foreign nationality) — the operative dual-nationality-retention mechanism for ACQUIRERS of ROK nationality is §10(2): instead of renouncing within 1 year, the following may pledge and keep dual nationality — (1) at naturalization, a person under §6(2)1-2 (marriage spouse routes) OR §7(1)2-3 (distinguished service / excellent talent); (2) a §9-reinstated person recognized under §7(1)2-3; (3) a person adopted abroad as a minor who acquired foreign nationality and resided abroad, reinstated under §9; (4) a person reinstated under §9 who entered ROK to permanently reside after fully turning 65 (만 65세); (5) a person who cannot renounce due to foreign law, prescribed by Presidential Decree. The by-birth dual-national pledge routes instead through §13/§11-2.

• Naturalization takes effect at the OATH-AND-CERTIFICATE moment, not at the grant of permission: a person who obtains naturalization permission under 제4조제1항 acquires ROK nationality at the time he/she takes an oath of citizenship (국민선서) before the Minister of Justice AND is granted a certificate of naturalization (귀화증서), per 국적법 제4조제3항. The Minister may exempt a person from the oath where age or physical/mental disability prevents understanding it. Per 제4조제4항, the head of a regional immigration office may receive the oath / grant the certificate on the Minister's behalf. This oath-timing regime was INTRODUCED by Act No. 15249, effective 2018-12-20. (The oath provision is 제4조제3항, NOT 제5조.) - Naturalization-test mechanics (귀화적격심사 / 종합평가 + 면접심사) operationalize the 제5조제5호 basic-knowledge and 제5조제3호 good-conduct requirements at the Enforcement-Decree / Ministerial level: the eligibility examination is conducted as a written comprehensive evaluation (종합평가) and interview (면접심사) with a pass mark of 60 out of 100 (60점 이상); completion of the Social Integration Program (사회통합프로그램, KIIP) advanced level can exempt the written test. The test structure and pass-mark are NOT in the Nationality Act itself — the Act states only the substantive 제5조제5호/제3호 requirement.

Timeline: standard. Document burden: medium. Required: renunciation.

• Government fee for naturalization permission (귀화허가 신청) = ₩300,000 per person (accompanying acquirers / 수반취득자 excluded), payable by government revenue stamp (정부수입인지). The statutory authority for nationality-affairs fees is 국적법 제21조의2 (수수료) [added by Act No. 15752, 2018-09-18], with amounts and reduction/exemption criteria delegated to the Enforcement Rule (법무부령). Special-contribution (특별공로) and excellent-talent (우수인재) special-naturalization applicants and humanitarian cases may be fee-exempted at the Minister's discretion (제21조의2제2항).

Primary statute: 국적법 제7조제1항제1호. Operative 1948-12-20–present. Authority: Minister of Justice (법무부장관); Korea Immigration Service (출입국·외국인정책본부).