Why was Steve Yoo denied a visa to enter Korea again?

The Korean government denied his entry visa after he renounced his Korean citizenship in 2002, allegedly to evade mandatory military service. The case concerns repeated refusals by the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles.

What happened in Steve Yoo’s third lawsuit over the visa denial?

The Seoul High Court upheld the Seoul Administrative Court’s earlier ruling and said the Los Angeles consulate’s refusal to issue Yoo an entry visa must be revoked. The court did not give a specific explanation for its decision.

What is the timeline of Steve Yoo’s visa dispute?

He first sued in 2015 after a visa refusal, won a Supreme Court ruling in 2020 on procedural grounds, faced another rejection after reapplying, and won again in November 2023. The latest refusal in June 2024 led to the third lawsuit, and the Seoul High Court ruling came on Friday.

Korean American singer wins appeal in 3rd lawsuit over visa denial

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Summary

The Seoul High Court on Friday upheld a lower court ruling in favor of Steve Yoo in his third lawsuit over the Korean government’s denial of an entry visa in Los Angeles. The court ordered the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles to revoke its refusal. Yoo, also known as Yoo Seung-jun, has been barred from entering Korea since renouncing his Korean citizenship in 2002.

Key Facts

Yoo first filed a lawsuit in 2015 after the Los Angeles consulate refused to issue him a visa.
In 2020, Yoo won a Supreme Court ruling that found the visa refusal procedurally flawed.
After another rejection in June 2024, Yoo filed his third lawsuit three months later.
In August 2025, the Seoul Administrative Court said the visa denial was illegal and should be revoked because of an abuse of discretion.

By Yonhap

Published Oct 2, 2026 3:29 pm KST

Former pop star Steve Yoo speaks about how the Korean government has barred him from entering the country for military draft evasion, Dec. 20, 2020. Captured from Steve Yoo's YouTube channel

A court of appeals on Friday upheld a lower court's ruling in favor of Steve Yoo, a Korean American singer, in his third lawsuit seeking to overturn the Korean government's decision to deny him an entry visa after he renounced his Korean citizenship, allegedly to evade mandatory military service.

The Seoul High Court ruled that the decision by the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles to deny Yoo an entry visa must be revoked, upholding a ruling by the Seoul Administrative Court in August last year.

The high court did not provide a specific explanation for its ruling.

The case is an appeal of Yoo's third lawsuit against the LA consulate general after it denied his visa application.

Yoo, 48, 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 LA consulate general 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 LA consulate general again turned it down, prompting Yoo to file a second suit in 2020 to reverse the decision.

The Supreme Court again made a ruling favorable to Yoo in November 2023. But the LA consulate general refused to issue a visa again in June 2024, leading to Yoo's launch of a third lawsuit three months later.

In August 2025, the Seoul Administrative Court ordered the LA consulate general to cancel its earlier decision to deny Yoo an entry visa, saying the visa denial was illegal and should be revoked due to an abuse of discretion.

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