Jung Chung-rae says US visa still under review, urges restraint on alliance remarks

Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Jung Chung-rae has asked people to refrain from making remarks that could harm the South Korea-US alliance over the delay in issuing his US visa. The visa remains under review, and he said his decision to switch his national audit destination to Europe was made in consideration of public holidays and flight availability.

Jung said Friday on Facebook that his US visa is "officially under review" and that "nothing has been decided." He said he switched to a Europe-bound delegation because of Korean public holidays and flight booking constraints.

"Hasty conclusions and extreme claims do not help the South Korea-US alliance or the national interest," he wrote. "I ask everyone to refrain from making remarks that could harm the alliance over my US visa issue."

Jung also posted news reports and photos from two previous US visits — a national audit of overseas diplomatic missions in the Americas in 2012 and a meeting with US lawmakers in 2014.

"I have already made two trips to the United States, and I will carry out my work on the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee from the perspective of promoting South Korea-US friendship and pursuing the national interest," he said.

Jung had originally been set to join the Americas subgroup of the Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee for the national audit of overseas diplomatic missions. His US visa had not been issued by Thursday — three days before the delegation's departure — and he transferred to the Europe subgroup instead.

Some observers raised the possibility that his past sit-in occupation of the US ambassador's residence had influenced the decision. Conservative opposition parties also criticized the delay, suggesting it could be linked to communication problems between South Korean and US diplomatic and security authorities.

The Democratic Party expressed regret that the visa delay had restricted Jung's legislative activities. Party leader Kim Min-seok voiced strong regret on behalf of the party Thursday, and Chief Spokesperson Park Seong-jun followed with a statement Friday saying the party "expresses deep regret that legitimate legislative activities have been blocked."

Park said Jung is "a four-term senior lawmaker and the leader of the ruling party, and has consistently maintained communication with the United States, including conducting a national audit there in 2012." He argued that "restricting even the national audit activities of an allied nation's parliament is inconsistent with the forward-looking values of the alliance."

"We hope that the South Korean and US diplomatic authorities will move quickly and actively to resolve the issue," Park added, "and that this incident will not leave unnecessary misunderstandings that could undermine the solid trust between South Korea and the United States."