"Lawsuit" against "permanent immigration ban due to smoking marijuana" ... plaintiff wins = Korea

An American who was banned from entering South Korea six years ago for smoking cannabis, won lawsuit asking for a visa to be issued.

A judge at the Seoul Administrative Court announced on December 5th that "A has ruled in favor of the plaintiff in the suit against the consul-general of the Korean Consulate in Los Angeles against the refusal of issuance of passports and visas."

The judge said, "The consul general did not make a judgment by comparing the public interest and A's disadvantage, and refused the decision only because there was a decision to ban him from entering the country six years ago." It also ruled, "(The past justice minister's decision) to ban entry into Korea cannot be regarded as an administrative disposition with official force and inviolability." This is the explanation that "instructions of advanced administrative agencies (the Ministry of Justice) are generally effective only within the administrative organization, and do not have the effect of binding the public externally."

A lost his South Korean citizenship when he acquired US citizenship in 2009, and was caught smoking marijuana in South Korea in 2013. In April 2014, he was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison, suspended for 3 years, on suspicion of violating the drug control law. The Seoul Immigration Bureau issued a departure order to A, and the Ministry of Justice decided in 2015 to permanently ban A from entering the country. A filed a lawsuit after the South Korean consulate in Los Angeles refused to issue a visa for overseas Korean (F-4) status in August last year.