What did the Supreme Court decide in Yoo Seung-jun’s visa case?

The Supreme Court upheld the Seoul High Court’s ruling in favor of Yoo Seung-jun, requiring the Korean government to reconsider its decision to deny him an entry visa. The ruling did not itself state that the visa had been issued.

Why has Yoo Seung-jun been barred from entering Korea?

Yoo has been barred since becoming a U.S. citizen and renouncing his Korean citizenship in 2002, when he was alleged to have sought to evade mandatory military service. The controversy triggered a public uproar in Korea.

What happens next after the Supreme Court ruling in Yoo Seung-jun’s visa dispute?

The Korean government must reconsider whether to issue Yoo a visa. If it issues one in accordance with the court ruling, Yoo would be able to visit Korea for the first time in about 20 years.

Supreme Court upholds ruling in favor of Korean American singer over visa issuance

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Summary

The Supreme Court upheld a ruling favoring Korean American singer Steve Yoo in Seoul on Thursday. The ruling requires the Korean government to reconsider its denial of Yoo’s entry visa after he renounced his Korean citizenship in 2002. Yoo may visit Korea for the first time in about 20 years if the visa is issued.

Key Facts

The Seoul High Court ruled that denying Yoo a visa after he turned 38 would be excessive because the military service requirement is exempted after that age.
Yoo first sued in 2015 after the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles refused to issue him a visa.
The Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that the earlier visa refusal was procedurally flawed.
Yoo became a U.S. citizen and renounced his Korean citizenship in 2002, amid allegations that he sought to evade mandatory military service.
Yoo was highly popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s for his dance music, but the military service allegations caused a public uproar.

Published Nov 30, 2023 4:22 pm KST
Updated Dec 1, 2023 3:02 pm KST

Korean American singer Yoo Seung-jun is shown in this 2010 file photo. Yonhap

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an appellate court's ruling in favor of Steve Yoo, a Korean American singer, in a lawsuit he filed to reverse the Korean government's decision to deny him an entry visa for renouncing his Korean citizenship to evade mandatory military service.

The Seoul High Court ruled in July that even if a Korean man renounces his citizenship in order to dodge military service, it would be too much to deny him a visa even after he turns 38 years old, the threshold after which the military service requirement is exempted under the law.

Yoo, also known by his Korean name Yoo Seung-jun, has been barred from entering Korea after he became a U.S. citizen and renounced his Korean citizenship in 2002, with the alleged goal of dodging his military duty.

Yoo first filed a lawsuit in 2015 after the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles refused to issue him a visa. In 2020, Yoo won a Supreme Court ruling that the visa refusal was procedurally flawed. After the top court's ruling, Yoo applied again for a visa to enter Korea, but the consulate general again turned it down, prompting Yoo to file a second suit in 2020 to reverse the decision.

With the Supreme Court's latest decision, the government should reconsider whether to issue a visa for Yoo. If the visa is finally issued in accordance with the court ruling, Yoo will be able to visit Korea for the first time in about 20 years.

With his powerful dance music, Yoo was highly popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, though the military dodging allegations sparked a public uproar. (Yonhap)

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