Steve Yoo's fans push to end 20-year entry ban

Yoo Seung-jun / Xportsnews

Fans of singer Yoo Seung-jun, also known as Steve Yoo, have once again called on President Lee Jae-myung to lift the performer’s long-standing ban from entering South Korea.

In a statement released on Aug. 12 through the DC Inside online community’s “Yoo Seung-jun Gallery,” fans argued that the spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation, promoted during the Liberation Day special pardons, should be applied to all citizens equally.

Referring to recent high-profile pardons, the statement read, “Those who disrupted the fairness of college admissions with forged documents, and those who misused donations intended for comfort women survivors for personal purposes — betraying the trust of victims and donors — have been pardoned and reinstated under the banner of national unity. We are not criticizing these decisions, but asking for the same principles and values to be applied equally to all.”

The remarks appeared to reference former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and former lawmaker Yoon Mee-hyang, who were included in the latest Liberation Day pardon list. Cho was convicted in December 2024 of charges including academic fraud involving his children and abuse of authority to cover up a Cheong Wa Dae inspection, receiving a two-year prison sentence. He was due for release in December 2026. Yoon was convicted of embezzling donations intended for former Japanese military sexual slavery victims and sentenced to one year and six months in prison, suspended for two years, resulting in the loss of her parliamentary seat.

“It is completely unfair to grant political figures generous clemency while applying an excessively harsh standard to an ordinary citizen like Yoo Seung-jun for over 20 years,” the fan group said. “To uphold the true spirit of national unity and reconciliation promoted by the Liberation Day pardons, please lift the entry ban on Yoo and allow him to set foot on Korean soil again.”

The group had issued a similar appeal on Aug. 9 under the name “Loving Fans of Yoo Seung-jun,” when they urged the government to extend the same “spirit of tolerance and inclusion” being considered for politicians and public officials to all citizens.

Yoo’s ban stems from 2002, when he left Korea for what was described as an overseas concert tour shortly before his scheduled military enlistment, then renounced his Korean citizenship to acquire U.S. citizenship. The move sparked allegations of draft evasion, leading the Justice Ministry to place him on a no-entry list.

In 2015, Yoo applied at the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles for an F-4 visa for overseas Koreans, which would allow him to live and work in Korea, but was denied. He filed an administrative lawsuit to overturn the refusal and won two separate legal challenges. However, his most recent visa application was also rejected, prompting a third administrative suit against the LA consulate and the Justice Minister. In the second hearing of the ongoing case, the Justice Ministry reaffirmed its stance that his entry could not be permitted, prolonging his state of limbo.

This article from Xportsnews is translated by a generative AI system and edited by The Korea Times.