South Korean lawmaker missed US trip after visa stayed under review

A visa application that remained under review kept a South Korean ruling party lawmaker from travelling to Washington for a parliamentary audit of Seoul's diplomatic missions earlier this month. Democratic Party of Korea Rep. Jung Chung-rae said on 27 October that he had to switch to the audit team covering Europe instead.

Key facts

• Jung had planned to join the parliamentary foreign affairs committee's audit team on its United States trip earlier this month.
• His visa application was still under review ahead of his planned departure.
• He moved to the Europe audit team rather than risk missing the audit altogether.
• The delay came amid concerns about friction between Seoul and Washington over intelligence cooperation.

What happened?

Jung had intended to travel with the foreign affairs committee's audit team to the United States earlier this month to review South Korea's diplomatic missions. With his visa application still being reviewed before his planned departure, he changed his assignment to the Europe audit team.

He said he did so out of concern that he might not be able to take part in the parliamentary audit at all.

What did the lawmaker say?

Speaking during a parliamentary audit, Jung said he found the way US authorities handled the matter "deeply regrettable", stressing that he had worked hard to promote friendly relations between Seoul and Washington.

He also criticised the main opposition party for turning the visa issue into a controversy about strains in the South Korea-US alliance. In his view, both parties should put their differences aside and protest to the United States rather than use the delay to attack the government.

Why is this happening?

The visa delay came amid concerns about apparent friction between South Korea and the United States over intelligence cooperation. The US has reportedly complained about Unification Minister Chung Dong-young's public disclosure in March of a North Korean uranium enrichment facility in Kusong, North Korea, which Washington believes was based on intelligence it had shared.

South Korea's National Intelligence Service also acknowledged that it had been excluded from a June trilateral meeting with the United States and Japan on North Korean cyber threats, following a news report claiming the agency had been left out at Washington's request.

What this means for travellers

The source describes a single visa application by one lawmaker and does not set out any change to US visa rules, processing times or requirements for ordinary travellers. No details are given about the type of visa involved, how long the review took or the outcome of the application.

No further steps or decisions have been announced in the source.