Embassy in the U.S. without Jeong Cheong-rae's National Assembly inspection... No, visa diplomatic power offensive

“Is independent Han Dong-hoon also a member of the opposition party?” Korea: “Am I the ruling party that is being attacked by the Democratic Party?”

Kang Kyung-hwa and Jeong Cheong-rae's visa issue: "This is not a mechanism to get an explanation from the United States."

“Consular service, which is delayed by one beat, must be improved” due to restrictions on the length of stay in the U.S. for international students

(Washington = Yonhap News) Correspondent Hong Jeong-gyu and Lee Yu-mi = At the National Assembly Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee's inspection of the Korean Embassy in the United States held on the 12th (local time), opposition party members criticized the Korean diplomatic authorities for their helpless response to the increased visa threshold of the United States.

They point out that the Embassy in the United States failed to properly respond to issues such as the case of Rep. Chung Cheong-rae of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the Foreign Affairs and Trade Committee, who had to turn to Europe because he could not receive a U.S. visa, as well as restrictions on the period of stay in the U.S. and frequent refusal of entry to the U.S. for international students and journalists.

In the case of Rep. Chung, he was originally assigned to the American team of the Foreign Affairs and Communications Commission and applied for a US visa, but as the US put his visa issuance on hold, he was urgently changed to the European team. On this day, the National Assembly inspection was conducted with two People Power Party members (excluding the chairman), two Democratic Party members, and one independent.

Chairman Song Seok-jun said, “As a result, I think this is the first time in the plenary session of the 22nd National Assembly and each standing committee that a ruling party and opposition party have been formed.” Chairman Song said that the American and European teams of the Foreign Affairs and National Unification Committee met at the airport on their way out of the country on the same day, and Rep. Chung was very disappointed that he could not go to the United States.

In response to Chairman Song's remarks, Democratic Party lawmaker Maeng Seong-gyu asked, "Are the independents (Rep. Han Dong-hoon) also the opposition party?" Rep. Han responded, "Looking at the Democratic Party attacking me, I don't think I belong to the ruling party." Democratic Party lawmaker Park Seong-joon responded, “I refuse,” to a joke asking, ‘Would you take a lawmaker to the Democratic Party?’

Regarding Rep. Chung's visa not being issued, a lawmaker said, "It's unfortunate at the national level. He was not just a lawmaker, but a representative elected from the previous ruling party," and questioned what efforts the embassy in the U.S. had made in this process. Ambassador to the United States Kang Kyung-wha inquired about Rep. Chung's visa issue with the U.S. State Department, but responded that she had not received a clear answer.

Ambassador Kang explained that the reasons for visa issuance and denial are "principled to be confidential" and that "there is no mechanism for obtaining specific explanations," but People Power Party lawmaker Ko Dong-jin argued that not only Rep. Chung's case but also restrictions on the period of stay in the U.S. for international students and journalists revealed a lack of consular services at the U.S. Embassy.

The new regulations of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security abolish the so-called 'Duration of Status (D/S)' system that has been applied to international students (F visa), exchange/training visitors (J visa), and foreign journalists (I visa) and place restrictions on the period of stay by visa type. A federal court in Boston, Massachusetts, issued a preliminary injunction temporarily halting enforcement of the rule.

Rep. Koh pointed out, "Embassies and consulates posted this draft regulation announced by the U.S. government on July 17th on July 21st, 4 days later. There is a difference of 4 days," and added, "The notice of closure due to heavy snow last year was also issued the day after the break," and criticized the need for improvement of 'consular service, which is every bit as slow', rather than requests for increased staff or salary increases.

Regarding the recent delay in the issuance of visas for National Intelligence Service employees who will be working at the embassy in the United States, a lawmaker asked, "Has something like this happened in the past?" and Ambassador Kang responded, "I don't know of any past cases where I wasn't currently in office."

Ambassador Kang said, “I remember there were two or three cases of visa issuance delays for National Intelligence Service employees,” but added, “It is unknown why there is a delay because individual visas are processed privately by the United States.”

At a luncheon meeting with correspondents held during the National Assembly inspection on this day, opposition party members expressed the view that the suspension of visa issuance for Rep. Chung and the delay in visas for NIS employees were not unrelated to the "abnormalities" in Korea-US relations, while ruling party lawmakers refuted that individual issues should not be interpreted as diplomatic issues.