Stephen Yoo, who shirked his defense obligations, ends up on South Korean soil

▲유승준 씨 (뉴시스)

A court has ruled that singer Yoo Seung-jun (U.S. name Steve Seung-jun Yoo) should be denied a visa to enter South Korea.

On March 13, the Administrative Division 9-3 of the Seoul High Court (Chief Judge Jo Chan-young, Kim Moo-shin, and Kim Seung-joo) overturned the first trial court and ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit against the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles (LA) to cancel the denial of a passport and visa.

This is the second appeal by Mr. Yoo, a foreign national, against the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles after he was denied a visa.

Previously, Mr. Yoo was barred from entering South Korea in 2002 after he obtained U.S. citizenship to avoid military service. At the time, the government determined that Mr. Yoo's military service evasion was excludable under the Overseas Korean Act because it was likely to harm the interests of the Republic of Korea, including the maintenance of security and order and foreign relations.

Mr. Yoo tried to enter the country on an overseas Korean visa, but was denied, and filed his first administrative case in 2015.

In 2020, the Supreme Court ruled in Yu's favor, stating that "the Consulate General in Los Angeles failed to exercise its discretion and refused to issue Yu a visa."

But the consulate continued to refuse to issue a visa. "At the time, the government believed that Mr. Yoo's desertion from military service was likely to harm the interests of the Republic of Korea, including security, order, and diplomatic relations, as defined in the Overseas Korean Act," the consulate said.

Mr. Yoo filed a second lawsuit in October 2020, arguing that the decision violated the spirit of the Supreme Court's ruling. The first instance tribunal ruled against Mr. Yu for the same reasons as the consulate general.

However, the second tribunal disagreed. "The Overseas Koreans Act was amended in 2017, and the provisions of the old Overseas Koreans Act should be applied to events that occurred prior to that time," the tribunal explained, noting that Article 5(2) of the old Overseas Koreans Act states, "This shall not be the case when a foreign national who falls under the first or second category reaches the age of 38."

This provision was amended in 2017 to raise the threshold from 38 to 41 years of age, and the Consulate General refused to issue Mr. Yu a visa based on this reasoning, but the Court of Appeals ruled that the old Overseas Koreans Act should be applied as of 2015, the date of the application, and that "unless there are special circumstances, the status of residence should be granted.

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