Korean-German denied entry for Gwangju massacre anniversary conference

Posted on : 2016-05-14 19:06 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Justice Ministry refusing to disclose specific reasons democracy activist Lee Jong-hyeon was sent back to Germany
Lee Jong-hyeon (by Yi Eun-hi
Lee Jong-hyeon (by Yi Eun-hi

A German national of Korean descent who was planning to attend an academic conference on the 36th anniversary of the Gwangju Democratization Movement was refused entry to South Korea and forced to return to Germany.

According to multiple sources at the May 18 Memorial Foundation, Lee Jong-hyeon (80, a resident of Duisburg, Germany), a permanent advisor for the German branch of Korean European Solidarity was not allowed to enter South Korea at Incheon International Airport at 12:30 pm on May 12. At 12:30 pm on May 13, Lee was sent back to Germany.

Lee had been officially invited to attend the Asia Forum, which will open in Gwangju on May 17, organized by the May 18 Memorial Foundation. He had been planning to stay in South Korea until May 19, during which time he would have attended the May 18 memorial ceremony and given a presentation about the democratization movement in Germany since the 1980s. Lee has visited South Korea in 1990, 1994, 2004 and 2010, and this is the first time he has been refused entry.

“The Justice Ministry’s Immigration Service told us that the affair had been concluded through deliberations with the relevant agency,” a source at the May 18 Memorial Foundation said. “Presuming that the ‘relevant agency’ was the National Intelligence Service, we contacted them only to be told that the decision had already been made by Incheon Airport. We told the National Intelligence Service that we would provide Lee a personal guarantee, but they did not give us any answer.”

South Korea’s Immigration Control Act states that, if there are concerns that an individual might do something that would harm the national interest or public safety, they may be banned from entering the country. The document issued by the Korea Immigration Service that blocked Lee’s entry into the country only states that Lee is “ordered to return to Germany pursuant to Articles 11 and 12 of the Immigration Control Act” without providing any specific reasons.

After being sent to Germany as a miner in 1965, Lee graduated from a German university and worked in the country. During the same time, he was a democracy activist, taking part in hosting a memorial event for the Gwangju Massacre in Europe every May.

The members of the preparatory committee for the 36th memorial event released a joint statement in which they “appealed to global public opinion” and promised to “explore every measure to prevent something so shameful from ever happening again.” 

“Lee was prevented from entering the country because he had engaged in behavior overseas that opposes South Korea’s national interest. The specific reasons cannot be disclosed,” the Justice Ministry said.

By Jung Dae-ha, Gwangju correspondent and Kim Mi-young, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

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