Recently, rumors have been spreading in some online communities that attending an impeachment rally against President Yoon Suk-yeol would result in denial of the U.S. Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) issuance. Reports on celebrities such as singer IU are continuing in this context. In response, Cho Tae-yul, Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, emphasized that such a refusal of ESTA is "impossible."
During a query session on the 24th at the International Legislative and Judicial Committee, Jang Kyung-tae, a Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker, asked, "Does attending the impeachment rally lead to ESTA denial?" Minister Cho replied, "It is impossible."
When Lawmaker Jang further inquired about rumors in some communities that reporting entertainers who supported the impeachment to intelligence agencies like the U.S. CIA or the U.K. MI6 would lead to entry denial, Minister Cho dismissed it by saying, "Would that be possible? It is a matter of those countries' sovereignty."
Following this, when Lawmaker Jang requested, "As various fake news spreads, please provide guidance from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that ESTA and exchange student visas (J1) are not denied based on rally attendance even when reported to the CIA. People are anxious," Minister Cho said, "I will review it."
Previously, some far-right netizens have posted about reporting entertainers like singer and actor IU (Lee Ji-eun), who supported the rally urging for President Yoon's impeachment, to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and have shared verification of their reports.
On an online community, a post claimed to have received an email from the CIA. The author, identified as A, claimed, "With a flood of reports from Korea, the CIA is amazed. The power of the internet-savvy patriots is outstanding," adding, "An average of 20,000 to 30,000 reports would have blocked ESTA issuances." However, the content of the CIA email disclosed by A simply stated that A's email was rejected.