National Defense Committee chair Jin Sung-joon denied U.S. visa ahead of military exchange visit

Democratic Party (DP) Rep. Jin Sung-joon, who chairs the National Assembly's National Defense Committee, was denied a U.S. visa Wednesday, preventing him from joining a parliamentary delegation scheduled to visit the U.S. Pacific Command next month.

"The refusal by the United States to issue me a visa is deeply regrettable," Jin wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday, announcing the denial.

Jin had planned to visit the command from Sunday to Nov. 5 as part of a parliamentary delegation on a military exchange.

He applied for an A-2 visa, issued to foreign government officials traveling to the United States on official business, but was notified Wednesday morning that his application had been denied.

Jin had planned to join fellow delegation members — including DP Rep. Kim Byung-joo, People Power Party (PPP) Rep. Lim Jong-deuk and Reform Party Rep. Chun Ha-ram — for meetings with Adm. Samuel Paparo, commander of the U.S. Pacific Command, and other officials. The visa denial has made it virtually impossible for Jin to participate in the scheduled meetings.

"No matter how I look at it, this doesn't seem like the way to treat an ally," Jin told the JoongAng Ilbo by phone Wednesday.

Jin was sentenced to three years in prison and a three-year suspension of qualifications in 1991 for violating the National Security Act. After graduating from university in 1989, he was accused of organizing a group while serving in the military where he spread anti-American and pro-North Korean views.

He was pardoned and had his rights restored in a round of special presidential reprieves marking the Aug. 15 Liberation Day in 1995. He has reportedly visited the United States several times since then.

"I visited the U.S. Pacific Command in March 2014 while serving on the National Assembly's National Defense Committee during the 19th National Assembly, which makes this decision even harder to understand," Jin wrote in the Facebook post. "I call on the United States to reconsider its decision."

Jin also said he had been told that U.S. authorities requested all the court documents related to his past case.

"I was punished for violating the National Security Act, but that wasn't an attack on the United States, was it?" he added. "The ruling was handed down more than 30 years ago, and I also visited the United States when I worked as a parliamentary aide."

Jin is the second prominent ruling party lawmaker in recent weeks to encounter problems obtaining a U.S. visa, following former DP leader Rep. Jung Chung-rae.

Jung, a member of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee, had planned to visit the United States, Brazil and other countries from Oct. 11 to 22 to conduct a parliamentary audit of Korean diplomatic missions overseas.

However, after U.S. authorities put his visa application on hold, Jung switched to the committee's European inspection team and carried out the audit there.

"I find the U.S. administrative authorities' actions deeply regrettable," Jung said during the committee's parliamentary audit Tuesday. "This is an issue that both ruling and opposition parties should protest to the United States together, regardless of political affiliation."

Korean nationals are also facing higher refusal rates for U.S. visas.

The adjusted refusal rate for Korean nationals reached 24.73 percent in the 2025 U.S. fiscal year, which ran from October 2024 through September 2025, according to data submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to PPP Rep. Kim Dai-sik on Monday. The figure was up 9.76 percentage points from 14.97 percent the previous fiscal year.

BY PARK JUN-KYU [[email protected]]