Repeated difficulties for ruling Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers in obtaining US visas are sparking debate over the state of the Seoul-Washington alliance, and questions over US immigration's treatment of South Korean politicians carrying out official duties.
On Wednesday, Rep. Jin Sung-joon, chair of the parliamentary National Defense Committee, revealed that his US visa application has been put on hold. Jin is the second Democratic Party lawmaker to experience such an issue recently, following Rep. Jung Chung-rae.
Jin had applied for a US visa for his scheduled trip to visit the US Pacific Command in Hawaii as the parliamentary committee chair next week from Sunday to Nov. 5.
The issue experienced by Jung, a former Democratic Party chair, was made public earlier in October, when he was due to attend an audit of South Korea's Embassy to the US as a member of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee.
Foreign Minister Cho Hyun on Thursday called the developments "an undesirable situation," but played down any connection with Seoul-Washington relations.
"I intend to request that the US expedite the issuance of visas for our lawmakers because this is an undesirable situation, and this matter is not related to Korea-US relations," Cho said before his flight to the US to attend the Group of 20 members' ministerial-level meeting.
However, conservative politicians have said that these visa failures provide testament that South Korea-US relations are in a precarious state.
The People Power Party's Rep. Shin Dong-uk on Thursday honed in on the developments, saying that Seoul "must recognize that (the visa failures) reflect the current state of bilateral relations."
Shin cited government data showing a 24.73 percent denial rate for B-1 and B-2 visa for South Koreans who intended to travel to the US from October 2024 to September 2025.
The US "often uses this method to indirectly express its grievances toward an ally," he assessed.
People Power Party senior spokesperson Rep. Park Choong-kwon echoed the sentiment.
"The fact that they are not being issued now (unlike in the past when such visas were never denied) forces us to ask, how far have South Korea-US diplomatic relations gone wrong? This is a valid point to raise," Park said in an interview with CBS on Thursday.
Another conservative lawmaker, Han Dong-hoon, said on Facebook on Wednesday that South Korea must confront the crisis in its relations with its longtime ally.
"Pretending that nothing is wrong, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, and concealing the facts from the public will not solve the problem," Han wrote. "Solving a problem begins with facing reality. South Korea-US relations are currently in a state of grave crisis."
Conservatives suspected that their visa issues were associated with their past anti-US activities.
According to Shin and Park, former Democratic Party chair Jung was sentenced for occupying the US ambassador's residence and threatening an arson attack there as a student activist, while Jin was found guilty of organizing a private activist group during his time in the South Korean military to engage in anti-US activities.
Park, in addition, pointed to "suspicions from Europe that South Korea is leaning toward Russia" at the expense of its ties with Ukraine by partially withdrawing staff from its embassy in Ukraine. He did not elaborate what suspicions were exactly raised from Europe.
consnow@heraldcorp.com
