Yoo Seungjun's Third Visa Lawsuit Over 'Entry Denial' Goes to Supreme Court; LA Consulate Appeals
A third lawsuit filed by singer Yoo Seung-jun seeking to overturn the refusal to issue him a visa to enter South Korea will be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
According to legal sources on October 26, the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles filed an appeal with the Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 8-2 (High Court Judges Kim Bong-won, Lee Young-chang and Choi Bong-hee). In the first and second trials, the courts ruled in Yoo's favor. The trial court ruled for Yoo, saying, "The disadvantages suffered by the plaintiff as a result of the visa denial are excessively great compared with the public interest served by the denial, making it an unlawful abuse of discretion that violates the principle of proportionality." The appeals court upheld the lower court's ruling.
In January 2002, Yoo left South Korea for the stated purpose of performing and obtained U.S. citizenship, thereby avoiding his military service obligation. After public criticism mounted, the Ministry of Justice restricted his entry into South Korea under the Immigration Control Act.
In August 2015, when he was 38, Yoo applied to the Consulate General in Los Angeles for a visa granting him overseas Korean (F-4) status. He did so under the former Overseas Koreans Act, which allowed overseas Korean status to be granted to people who had lost their South Korean nationality to evade military service once they turned 38.
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After the Consulate General in Los Angeles refused to issue the visa, Yoo filed his first lawsuit. Following a remand and a subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court, he ultimately won the case there. However, the Consulate General again refused to issue the visa, saying that "Yoo's evasion of his military service obligation could harm the national interest." Yoo filed a second lawsuit in October 2020 and ultimately won at the Supreme Court in November 2023. When the Consulate General again denied his visa application in June 2024, Yoo filed a third lawsuit that September.
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