Japanese-Korean singer Kangnam (강남) recently appeared on a radio show to share some things that are going on in his life after becoming a naturalised Korean citizen earlier in February. Kangnam’s birthname is Yasuo Namekawa, and his dad is Japanese while his mom is Korean.
Kangnam previously revealed in a live broadcast on YouTube on 26th February (Saturday) that he had completed his final naturalisation interview a day earlier (Friday, 25th February), he opened the letter stating that he had officially passed the exam.
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As per The Star, this was the singer’s third attempt at the naturalisation exam. He intended to give up his Japanese citizenship in 2019. Furthermore, it was revealed that Kangnam had been applying for a South Korean citizenship after tying the knot with his wife Lee Sanghwa (이상화) that same year.
During his appearance on KBS Cool FM’s radio show “Yoon Jung Soo and Nam Chang Hee’s Mr. Radio”, the former M.I.B member shared that he’s considering changing his Japanese name to a Korean name. “My mother’s surname is Kwon, so I can be Kwon Kangnam, or I can take my wife’s last name and become Lee Kangnam.
“Some also suggested to use Kang as my surname and become the first Kang from Yong San. So these are the things that I’ve been thinking about,” the 35-year-old further added. Upon hearing this, MC Yoon Jung Soo remarked, “That’s good. I think it’s a great idea to take your wife’s surname too, Lee Kang Nam.” Kangnam then responded by saying, “Yeah, I’ll go with Lee Kang Nam.”
Watch the full broadcast here:
During the chat, Kangnam also revealed that he’s still a Japanese citizen. As revealed by the “Only Hard For Me” singer, he will change his citizenship to Korean in June.
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