U.S. Plans Online Visa Application System

On February 26, Thomas Hubbard, the U.S. ambassador to Korea, released a new plan for an online visa application system for the convenience of applicants.

In his lecture, “To Maintain Economic Relations between Korea and the U.S.,” at a social breakfast gathering held at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hubbard said, “Even though Korea is unable to meet some requirements now, it is striving for the resolution of the visa problem. We will drive forward with the online visa release.”

“Even if we introduce an online visa application system (for interview), the requirements for presenting at the U.S. Embassy will remain the same,” explained Hubbard, adding, “Frankly speaking, we can handle more applicants if the U.S. embassy is reconstructed.”

“In spite of Libya’s push for a nuclear arm development program for national security, as a result, it weakened its national security,” said Hubbard, regarding the six-nation conference at Beijing, China. “North Korea, like Libya, should guarantee the complete and permanent abolition of its nuclear development program.”

“Government’s intervention in technical standards would not be desirable. It could be a mistake for any country to select uniform technical standards,” said Hubbard addressing a question about the pending trade between Korea and U.S. He added. “Since the internet has become widely used in Korea, Korea should protect intellectual property rights more actively.”

“For Korea to be the core country in northeast Asia, a clear market, flexible labor market, and improvement of employment system should be guaranteed,” Hubbard added. “It would be better for Korea to develop as a giant free economic zone than to disseminate into several free economic zones.”

Won-Jae Lee wjlee@donga.com