1990년대를 거치면서 재일코리안 사회가 새로운 전기를 맞이하고 있다. 연간 5,000명 전후를 넘나들던 일본으로의 귀화자 수가 1995년 처음으로 10,000명을 넘어섰고, 두 배 가량 증가한 이 수치는 그 후로도 비슷한 수준을 유지하고 있다. 또한 이전에는 민족에 대한 배신행위로 간주되어 말도 끄집어내기 힘들었던 `일본 국적 취득론`이 공론화 되었을 뿐만 아니라 한 발 더 나아가 `일본 국적 취득 운동`까지 전개되고 있다. 필자는 졸고(2008)에서 그 근본적 배경을 `재일코리안 사회의 세대교체, 탈국가주의적 세계사의 흐름, 귀화의 법적·제도적 요건 완화`로 밝힌 바 있고, 후속 논문(2009)에서는 일본 국적 취득 운동의 경과를 개괄적으로 설명하고, `귀화·결혼·이름·언어·민족교육·차별`이라는 여섯 가지 항목을 중심으로 설문조사를 행한 후, 분화하고 있는 재일코리안의 정체성을 전체적으로 분석해 보았다. 본고에서는 설문 응답자들의 사회경제적 속성 중 연령에 초점을 맞추어 `귀화·결혼·이름·언어·민족교육·차별`에 대한 재일코리안의 나이대별 특징을 분석해보고자 한다. 재일코리안의 정체성을 나이대별로 나누어 파악하는 작업은 향후 재일코리안 사회의 흐름을 파악하는데 중요한 단서를 제공할 것이다.
The society in Zainich-Korean has had a turning point during 1990s. The number of naturalized persons as a Japanese citizen which had been about 5,000 exceeded 10,000 the first time in 1995 and the trend has sustained after that. In contrast to former times when the naturalization as a Japanese citizen was thought as a breach of faith, the argument about naturalization has become a public issue and in addition to it the campaign for acquisition of nationality as a Japanese citizen has spreaded. I made the back ground of it clear by a generation shift in Zainich-Korean society, the trend of world history under post-nationalism and the relaxation for legal and institutional qualification in naturalization(2008). And I showed the process of the campaign for acquisition of nationality and analyzed the identity of diverging Zainich-Korean after surveying 6 items of naturalization, marriage, name, language, ethnic education and discrimination(2009). In this essay, I analyzed Zainich-Korean`s features according to their age focusing on 6 items. 20s group showed the most affirmative attitude to naturalization. They think that they have a good command of Korean. Also they have the highest ratio on an experience to study in Korea, marriage to Japanese and use of ethnic name(Korean name) and have hardly any sense of discrimination from Japanese. 30s group think that they have the best command of Korean and show a similar inclination toward studying in Korea, marriage to Japanese and use of ethnic name with 20s. However, they show the negative attitude toward conditional naturalization with the highest percentage. Besides they feel that they are treated unfairly in social structure or social security. 40s group and 50s·60s group have common situation toward a Korean spouse and the use of Japanese name. However, 40s showed hesitant attitudes toward naturalization and discrimination, which distinguish themselves from any other group. Besides they think that they have a very bad command of Korean. 50s·60s group feel most discriminated, which distinguish themselves from any other group. They think that they have similar level of command of Korean and think it shameful that they have a bad command of Japanese. And they showed similar situation to naturalization with 20s.