Visa Woes: Indo-Korean Love Story Goes Sour: Newly-wed Indo-Korean couple forced to live in isolation for 5 months in their countries of origin

INDO-KOREAN LOVE STORY GOES SOUR AS KOREAN HUSBAND DENIED VISA APPROVAL NEW DELHI/SEOUL: It’s an endless wait for Nishtha Bhakuni for her South Korean husband as both are forced to lead secluded lives ever since his request for visa extension has been denied, time and again. Having tied the wedding knot last year, the duo has been living separately for the past five months since June in their respective countries – husband Kyeong-Su Park is in South Korea and Nishtha in India wide apart at a distance of about 5000 km.

After getting married as per Indian rituals in Noida, the neighboring city on the outskirts of Indian capital New Delhi last year, the happily married couple went to South Korea in June this year to get married in Korean traditions in the presence of bridegroom’s family. After meeting family and relatives in Seoul, the duo was happily preparing to return to India.

However, as if there was something bitter to come with their destiny, the man was denied a visa extension permission for returning to India, and Nishta had to come back alone in anticipation that her husband will eventually get approval later and join her again in India soon. For Nishtha, this wait turned out to be an endless ritual of miseries as her dreams to rejoin her husband shattered.

Running from pillar to post, day and night to get visa approval, the duo is feeling helpless as all their efforts in the last 5 months have gone down the drain. The aggrieved Park has written to the Ambassador of India to South Korea Amit Kumar, and also to his counterpart in India Ambassador Chang Jae-bok as well as to the senior functionaries of the Ministry of External Home Affairs (MHA).

The irony of the fact is that Park is now lodged in a small hotel in Seoul awaiting his visa approval since June, and he has not revealed this fiasco to his family and relatives who assume that he has reached India and is leading a happy married life together with Nishtha.

While narrating her ordeal to Asian Community News Network, Nishtha – a Korean language translator with a Noida-based company where he had met Park and fell in love, said that it took her two-and-a-half years to convince her parents to push for her decision to marry a Korean national.

“It’s still a social taboo in majority of conservative families in India, especially for girls to marry a foreigner with huge cultural differences, and other factors. But our parents gave us permission to go ahead after a lot of persuasions, and we got married in February last year as per Indian rituals after a couple of years of relationship,” she said.

Working as manager with a Noida-based company, Park has been living in India for about 10 years on business/employment visa, and his visa extension was happening on regular intervals without any issue during all this time.

However, it was in 2019 end, he left the job and started his own business in the field of machine calibration. But the destiny had something else in store for him, and global pandemic Covid-19 struck in the beginning of the year 2020 soon after he started his venture, and production in factories stalled all over. His business was no different to be affected from the lethal effect of Covid-19 pandemic, and suffered serious financial setbacks.

This impacted Park in in two ways – one, his company’s balance sheet was rendered in red, and his legal stay overshot during Corona with international flights grounded all over including India.

It was in February in 2021, Park tied a wedding knot with his fiancé Nishta after years of relationship in Noida as per Indian rituals. At that time the family of Park could not join the wedding ceremony because of restricted international flights movement because of raging Covid 19 cases in India.

In June this year, however, the duo decided to travel to South Korea as Park wanted Nishta to meet his family, relatives and friends there, and also to solemnize wedding in Korean tradition.

“We reached Seoul in the beginning of June and Park had applied for visa approval with the Indian embassy in Seoul the same time so that we could return to India by the end of the month. It was at the time when we were just about to leave for the last family dinner after having packed our bags and air tickets booked, we received a call from the Indian embassy that his visa request had been turned down,” said Nishtha with tears in her eyes.

Still, the duo continued to try to get visa approval till the end of July by knocking  the doors of FRRO in New Delhi but to no avail.

“It was in July end, I had to return to India all alone leaving my husband behind there in Seoul. He had to lodge himself in a hotel giving the impression to his relatives and friends that he is left Seoul along with me for India to lead happy married life. He is still in a hotel despite Seoul being his hometown,” said Nishtha, who is undergoing the toughest time span of her life. And equally concerned and worried are the parents of Nishtha in Uttarakhand, and have been waiting anxiously to welcome their son-in-law.

In his latest plea to Ambassador Amit Kumar, Indian Embassy in Seoul, the aggrieved Park urged to take humanitarian view of the situation and consider reissuance of his visa for India.

“I also request you to take a humanitarian view as I am being prevented from joining my wife in India and her family is eagerly awaiting my return to India so that we may receive the blessings of the family elders and celebrate our wedding in India,” Park added.

However, Kyeong-Su Park-Nishtha Bhakuni episode is setting up a bad precedence among the Korea community in India and South Korea both, especially among the young Korean generation that is aspiring to come to India and explore new opportunities in trade, business and industry. This incident is also affecting the efforts of various Korean trade and industry associations and also the government of the Republic of Korea who has been pushing hard to attract young Korean generation towards India to make it their destination.

While talking about the latest trend between India and South Korea about the Euy Don Park, President, Federation of Korean Associations in India, and Vice President of the Korean Chamber of Commerce said that India had witnessed a rise in the influx of young Korean entrepreneurs who entered India to explore new possibilities in trade, commerce and industry despite challenging working environment here.

“Many young entrepreneurs succeed while some don’t and go back to Korea. The last two years 2020-21 have been very tough for everyone including the Korean business community as well. Kyeong-Su Park is also one of those whose business got adversely affected due to Cobid-19 pandemic. His business suffered and he had to overstay in India for no malafide intentions but due to restrictions on international flights. This is what seems to be the reason behind the refusal of visa extension to him,” Euy Don Park who also happens to be the Vice President, the India-Republic of Korea Friendship Society.

He said, “In my considerate view, the authorities should take humanitarian view of this particular issue as an Indian woman who took the courageous step to go against the odds to marry a foreign national despite social pressures and other concerns, and allow her husband permission to re-enter India and join his family here.”

It was because of the rising number of young entrepreneurs from Korea to India, a new Association of micro-entrepreneurs in the name of the Korean Young Commerce Association was formed early this year in India. It has representation of many young Korean entrepreneurs who have set up micro enterprises including startups in India, and are planning to convert these enterprises into unicorns.