LA consulate challenges appellate ruling

Singer wins at both first and second instance

Singer Yoo Seung-jun [Newsis]
Singer Yoo Seung-jun [Newsis]

Singer Yoo Seung-jun (48), known in the United States as Steve Seung-jun Yoo, will have his third visa lawsuit decided by the Supreme Court after being barred from entering South Korea over a military service evasion controversy.

The South Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles filed an appeal Monday with Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 8-2, presided over by Judges Kim Bong-won, Lee Young-chang and Choi Bong-hee, according to Yonhap.

The appellate court had upheld a lower court ruling on Oct. 2, finding that the consulate's refusal to issue Yoo a visa was unlawful.

The controversy over Yoo's entry into South Korea dates back to 2002. Yoo made his debut in 1997 and built a career as a singer in South Korea, publicly pledging on television to fulfill his mandatory military service. In January 2002, however, he left the country for a performance and subsequently obtained US citizenship, exempting himself from military service obligations.

After the military evasion controversy erupted, the Ministry of Justice restricted Yoo's entry under the Immigration Act, citing concerns that his presence could harm national interests or public safety.

In August 2015, when Yoo turned 38, he applied to the LA consulate for an overseas Korean (F-4) visa. At the time, the Overseas Koreans Act allowed overseas Korean residency status to be granted at age 38, even to those who had renounced their citizenship to avoid military service.

The LA consulate rejected the application in September of that year. Yoo filed his first lawsuit and ultimately prevailed at the Supreme Court after proceedings that included a retrial on remand and a second appeal.

Despite that ruling, the LA consulate again refused to issue the visa, arguing that Yoo's evasion of military duty posed a risk to national interests.

Yoo filed a second lawsuit in October 2020 and won a final Supreme Court ruling in his favor in November 2023. After the LA consulate rejected his visa application again in June 2024, he filed a third lawsuit in September of that year.

The courts again sided with Yoo in the latest case. The first-instance court ruled in his favor, finding that "the disadvantage inflicted on the plaintiff by the visa refusal is excessively greater than the public interest gained by it, constituting an unlawful abuse and deviation of discretionary authority in violation of the principle of proportionality."

The appellate court upheld that ruling, but the LA consulate's decision to appeal means the third lawsuit will also be resolved at the Supreme Court.


woo@heraldcorp.com