S. Korea lifts entry ban on American peace activist

By Park Si-soo

South Korea has lifted the entry ban imposed on Korean-American Christine Ahn, 44, who organized a controversial march of 30 female peace activists spanning the two Koreas in 2015.

It came a day after The New York Times reported that South Korea had denied her entry. She learned that she was “persona non grata” after Asiana Airlines stopped her from boarding a flight at San Francisco Airport on Thursday (local time).

“Her entry ban has been lifted at the request of a state organization that asked for her entry ban,” South Korea’s justice ministry said Tuesday.

South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, is said to have made the ban request soon after Ahn hosted the march that might have provoked then President Park Geun-hye. Park, who is now on trial over corruption charges, maintained a hard line on the unhinged North while in office, in retaliation for the North’s repeated military provocations.