Singer Yoo Seung-jun, also known as Steve Yoo [Yonhap]
Singer Yoo Seung-jun, also known as Steve Yoo [Yonhap]

A Seoul appellate court is set to deliver its ruling in the third visa lawsuit filed by singer Yoo Seung-jun, 49, also known by his American name Steve Yoo, who has been barred from entering South Korea over a military service evasion controversy.

The Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 8-2 will hold a sentencing hearing Friday in Yoo's appeal against the Los Angeles Consulate General's refusal to issue him a visa. The ruling had originally been scheduled for Sept. 4 but was postponed.

Yoo obtained US citizenship in 2002 just before he was due to enlist, triggering a military evasion controversy. He was subsequently banned from entering South Korea.

In October 2015, he applied for an overseas Korean visa (F-4) at the LA Consulate General. After the consulate rejected his application, he filed suit and won final rulings in his favor twice at the Supreme Court.

However, the LA Consulate General again refused to issue him a visa in June 2024, prompting Yoo to launch a third round of litigation in September of that year — filing a suit to cancel the refusal as well as a separate action against the Ministry of Justice seeking confirmation that no entry ban decision existed.

In August last year, the first-instance court ruled in Yoo's favor, finding that the disadvantage he suffered from the visa denial far outweighed any public interest gained by it. The court also found it unlawful that Yoo alone faced a permanent entry ban, unlike others who had evaded military service.


min3654@heraldcorp.com