Central to the controversy surrounding draft evasion, how will the appellate court judge the second lawsuit concerning singer Steve Yoo's refusal to accept the denial of his visa issuance?

The 9-3 Administrative Department of the Seoul High Court is scheduled to hold a judgment pronouncement date on the 13th for the appeal lawsuit against the refusal to cancel the visa issuance, filed by Steve Yoo against the Consulate General in Los Angeles.

This lawsuit is the second one lodged by Steve Yoo, who refuses to accept the government's denial of visa issuance.

In 2002, Yoo, facing military enlistment, acquired US citizenship, which led to controversy over draft evasion and has since been unable to set foot on Korean soil. In 2015, Yoo sued the Consulate General in Los Angeles to revoke the refusal of visa issuance. Still, he lost in the first and second trials, but the Supreme Court overturned the original judgment, leading to a victorious verdict in March 2020. However, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs once again rejected Yoo's visa application, citing the Supreme Court's verdict was due to procedural issues in the visa refusal process.

In response, Steve Yoo sued the Consulate General in Los Angeles again in October 2020, and the first instance court ruled against the plaintiff in April 2022.

In the trial transferred to the second instance after disagreeing with the first instance verdict, the court showed a position pointing out the legal interpretation related to the first instance judgment, the issue of discretionary power exercise, and the content on Steve Yoo's foreigner or overseas citizen status.

At the resumed appellate hearing, the attorney for the Consulate General in Los Angeles raised doubts again about Steve Yoo's previous entry purpose, stating, "It's questionable whether Steve Yoo's entry purpose is consistent with what was argued in this lawsuit." In response, Steve Yoo's lawyer stated, "We are overseas compatriots, but it was not right to offer privileges. We recommended the entry purpose. Since we couldn't be judged by applying for another visa if we didn't have the qualifications to stay overseas, we applied for an overseas compatriot's stay qualification visa."

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