A file picture shows Steve Yoo, a Korean-born American singer who was banned from entering South Korea. [Yonhap News Photo]
SEOUL -- Steve Yoo, a Korean-born American singer, scored a legal victory in the appeals court retrial of an administrative suit against an entry ban which was imposed 17 years ago when he acquired U.S. citizenship while working as a popular artist at his birthplace.
The High Court in Seoul ruled Friday in favor of the 42-year-old known as his Korean name Yoo Seung-jun, nullifying an earlier decision by the South Korean consulate in Los Angeles to reject an entry visa. The singer still has a long way to go because the foreign ministry can appeal again to the Supreme Court.
Yoo was highly popular and one of the best-selling artists in South Korea in the late 1990s, but he was banned from visiting Seoul when he acquired US citizenship in 2002. His act was seen as improper amid criticism that his change of nationality was aimed at evading military conscription.
All able-bodied South Korean men aged 18-35 are required to serve in the military for about two years because the Korean peninsula is still technically at war as the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice with no peace treaty signed between the two Koreas. The military relies heavily on a compulsory service system. Exemptions are rare, with some Olympic gold medalists are not required to serve.
In 2016, Yoo launched a legal battle after the South Korean consulate in Los Angeles refused to issue a visa. He insisted that he should be given a visa for Koreans residing overseas because he secured US citizenship just at the request of his family, not to evade military service.
Lower courts have ruled against Yoo. In August, however, the Supreme Court asked the appeals court to re-examine the case, saying the consulate in Los Angeles had violated administrative procedures by refusing to issue a visa just because there was an entry ban decision by the justice ministry.
Yoo's family moved to the United States when he was 13. While staying in South Korea, he had repeatedly stated that he would fulfill his military service. But in 2002, just before he was to be drafted, he became a naturalized US citizen. The Seoul government considered it an act of desertion and banned him from entering South Korea.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
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