Steve Yoo Wins Appeal in Third Lawsuit Over South Korea Entry Visa

[Financial News] Singer Steve Yoo, 48, whose U.S. name is Steve Seung Jun Yoo, won an appeal in his third lawsuit seeking to overturn the refusal to issue him a visa to enter South Korea.
According to legal sources on the 2nd, the Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 8-2, consisting of High Court Judges Kim Bong-won, Lee Young-chang and Choi Bong-hee, ruled in favor of Yoo, the plaintiff, in the appellate trial of his lawsuit against the Consul General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles seeking to cancel the refusal of visa issuance. The ruling upheld the first-instance decision.
This was the appellate trial in Yoo's third lawsuit challenging the Consulate General's refusal to issue him a visa.
Yoo, who made his debut in 1997, worked as a singer in South Korea and promised on television that he would enlist in the military. However, after leaving the country for a performance in January 2002, he obtained U.S. citizenship and avoided his military service obligations.
The Ministry of Justice subsequently restricted Yoo's entry, determining that he fell under the Immigration Control Act's category of a person for whom there were reasonable grounds to believe that he might engage in conduct detrimental to the interests of the Republic of Korea or public safety.
In August 2015, after turning 38, Yoo applied to the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles for a visa granting Overseas Korean (F-4) status of stay. At the time, the Overseas Korean Act allowed such status to be granted to people who had lost their nationality to evade military service once they reached the age of 38.
However, the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles rejected his visa application in September of the same year. Yoo filed his first lawsuit in response and ultimately prevailed at the Supreme Court of Korea after proceedings on remand and a subsequent appeal. The Consulate General later rejected his visa application again, stating, "Yoo's evasion of his military service obligations poses a risk to the national interest."
Yoo filed his second lawsuit in October 2020 and again ultimately prevailed at the Supreme Court of Korea in November 2023. However, the Consulate General rejected his visa application once more in June 2024, prompting Yoo to file his third lawsuit in September of that year.
In August last year, the court in the first trial accepted Yoo's claim, stating, "The disadvantage suffered by the plaintiff as a result of the refusal to issue the visa is excessively great compared with the public interest gained from the disposition, constituting an illegal deviation from and abuse of discretion in violation of the principle of proportionality."
[email protected] Han Seung-gon Reporter