Singer Yoo Seung Joon (Steve Yoo) may finally set foot in South Korea again after 23 years, following a court decision overturning the government’s refusal to issue him a visa.
On August 28, the Seoul Administrative Court’s Administrative Division 5 (Presiding Judge Lee Jung Won) ruled in favor of Yoo in his lawsuit against the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles, which had rejected his visa application.
The court determined that the Ministry of Justice’s internal entry ban could not be used as a legal basis for denying a visa. It further noted that the personal harm inflicted on Yoo outweighed any potential public interest served by maintaining the ban.
However, the ruling did not equate to approval of Yoo’s past actions. Yoo left Korea in 2002, just three months before his scheduled military enlistment, and obtained U.S. citizenship, sparking a firestorm of criticism over alleged draft evasion.
The court dismissed Yoo’s separate lawsuit seeking to nullify the Ministry of Justice’s entry ban, reasoning that the ban was an internal policy rather than a formal legal disposition that could be challenged in court.
This case marks Yoo’s third legal battle against the Los Angeles Consulate General. Although he eventually prevailed in earlier lawsuits, the consulate continued to reject his visa applications.
Despite the latest ruling, Yoo’s return remains uncertain. The government is widely expected to appeal, and the Ministry of Justice has shown no indication of softening its stance on his entry ban.
Debuting in 1997, Yoo rose to fame with hit songs such as "Gaui" and "Me Me Me." After leaving Korea for a concert just before enlistment, he acquired U.S. citizenship, which led to the long-standing controversy and subsequent ban on his re-entry.
In 2015, at age 39, Yoo applied for an overseas Korean (F-4) visa through the Los Angeles consulate but was denied. Since then, he has engaged in a protracted legal struggle to regain entry into South Korea.
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