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Court again rules in favor of Korean American singer in visa dispute

Published: 28 Aug. 2025, 16:39

Steve Yoo [SCREEN CAPTURE]

A court on Thursday ruled again in favor of Steve Yoo, a Korean American singer, in a lawsuit he filed to reverse the Korean government's decision to deny him an entry visa for renouncing his Korean citizenship to evade mandatory military service.

The Seoul Administrative Court ordered the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles 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.

The court ruling came in Yoo's third lawsuit filed last year against the LA consulate general.

Yoo, 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 last year, leading to Yoo's launch of a third lawsuit three months later.

The Seoul Administrative Court said its verdict in Yoo's third lawsuit does not mean it considers his past conduct appropriate. The court also dismissed Yoo's separate lawsuit that sought to invalidate the justice ministry's entry ban decision for him in 2002, saying the matter is not subject to the court's judgment.

Yonhap