Singer Yoo Seung-jun, 49, known in the United States as Steve Seung-jun Yoo, has won an appeal in his third lawsuit seeking to overturn a South Korean visa denial.
The Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 8-2, presided over by Judge Kim Bong-won, ruled on Oct. 2 that it was dismissing both the defendant's appeal and the plaintiff's incidental appeal in the case Yoo brought against the consul general of the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles.
Yoo left South Korea on Jan. 10, 2002, after receiving permission for overseas travel for a performance, at a time when he had already been notified of his call-up for mandatory public-duty service, an alternative form of military service. He lost his South Korean nationality later that month, on Jan. 18, when he acquired U.S. citizenship following a citizenship interview in the United States. On Feb. 1 that year, the Ministry of Justice barred him from entering the country under Article 11 of the Immigration Act and related provisions.
Yoo filed two earlier lawsuits against the consul general in Los Angeles, in August 2015 and October 2020, seeking to overturn visa denials. Both cases reached the Supreme Court, which ultimately ruled that the denials should be overturned.
The consul general in Los Angeles nonetheless rejected Yoo's visa application again on June 17, 2024, after consulting relevant government agencies. Yoo filed his third lawsuit challenging the decision in September that year.
The lower court ruled in Yoo's favor last year, finding that there were no legal grounds for the third visa denial, while noting that his past conduct could not be considered appropriate.
