US visa-S Koreans

▲ Rep. Hong Kee-won of the ruling Democratic Party speaks at a meeting of the parliamentary foreign affairs and unification committee at the National Assembly in Seoul, in this file photo from Aug. 11, 2026. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Sept. 27 (Yonhap) -- The United States' issuance of nonimmigrant visas for South Koreans fell nearly 8 percent from a year earlier in 2025 following the inauguration of the new U.S. President Donald Trump administration, data analyzed by a lawmaker's office showed Sunday.

The office of Rep. Hong Kee-won of the ruling Democratic Party said it recently analyzed U.S. State Department data on visa issuance per country and found that 68,130 nonimmigrant visas had been issued to South Koreans last year, down 7.95 percent from 74,015 issued in 2024 during former President Joe Biden's administration.

The number fell across most categories, including the B-1 business visa and the B-2 tourism visa.

During the months following last September's surprise detention of hundreds of South Korean workers in the U.S. state of Georgia, however, the numbers appeared to grow, according to the lawmaker's office.

In December, South Korea and the U.S. launched a visa support desk at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul to help Korean companies investing in the U.S. with smoother entry procedures.

The State Department data showed average monthly B-1 and B-2 visa issuances fell from 1,273 in 2024 to 1,212 in 2025 before increasing to 2,027 in January and February this year, Hong's office said.

Still, F-1 international student visa issuances for South Koreans dropped significantly from a monthly average of 1,195 in 2024 to 965 in 2025, and 273 in January and February 2026.

"Though this phenomenon is global due to the Trump administration's anti-immigration policies and the reduction is smaller for us than it is for other major countries, if the situation is left unattended, it will cause considerable harm to many students preparing to study in the U.S.," Hong said.

"There need to be efforts to normalize these visa issuances by operating all available diplomatic channels with the U.S."

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