"Youth Feel Disheartened" Preventing a Second Yoo Seung-jun... Bill Proposed to Ban Entry of Military Service Evaders

Singer Yoo Seung-jun (American name Steve Seung-jun Yoo), who was banned from entering the country due to controversy over evading military service./Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Ju-hee] A bill to block the entry of those who have not fulfilled their military service obligations and have renounced their Korean nationality has been proposed in the National Assembly. If the bill passes the plenary session of the National Assembly, the grounds for restricting the entry of singer Yoo Seung-jun (44, U.S. name Steve Seung-jun Yoo) are expected to become clearer.

Kim Byung-joo, a member of the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly from the Democratic Party of Korea, proposed five bills on the 17th to prevent evasion of military service through nationality changes (Nationality Act, Immigration Control Act, Overseas Koreans Act, National Public Officials Act, Local Public Officials Act).

Rep. Kim said, "Young people feel a lot of frustration and loss due to the unfair reality," adding, "I hope that through legal amendments, we can become a society that takes pride in military service."

The amendment includes provisions that, in principle, prohibit the restoration of nationality and entry into the country for 'men who lost or renounced Korean nationality without fulfilling their military service obligations.'

It also expands the age limit for overseas Korean residency status (F-4) from the current 40 to 45 years old and prohibits appointment as national and local public officials up to the age of 45.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, Yoo renounced his Korean nationality in 2002 to avoid military service and acquired U.S. citizenship, after which the Ministry of Justice restricted his entry into Korea.

In 2015, Yoo applied for an overseas Korean visa at the Consulate General in Los Angeles (LA) but was rejected, leading him to file a lawsuit to cancel the refusal.

The first and second trials ruled that the LA Consulate General's refusal to issue the visa was lawful, but the Supreme Court overturned and remanded the case last November, ordering the cancellation of the visa refusal.

Although Yoo finally won at the Supreme Court in March this year, the LA Consulate General again refused to issue the visa in July, prompting him to file repeated administrative lawsuits, continuing the nearly 20-year controversy over his entry ban.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.